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All we know about Microsoft's Xbox handheld as fans call project Xboy

Xbox fans could be able to take their games on the go without cloud streaming soon, as boss Phil Spencer says the team is looking into producing a handheld console.

[Phil Spencer speaking at an Xbox event]

Phil Spencer has confirmed Xbox is working on a handheld(Image: Getty Images)

Xbox chief Phil Spencer has confirmed that the company is considering moving into the handheld console space.

In a new interview with Bloomberg (where Spencer also admitted the company could buy more studios ) Microsoft's CEO of gaming said the "expectation is that we would do something in regards to handheld gaming, noting the company is prototyping a handheld console but that any hypothetical console is likely years away - if it arrives at all.

It's worth stressing that Spencer has mentioned in the past that he's keen for games to be played locally, differentiating a potential handheld console from playing titles via Xbox Cloud Gaming on your phone, but what else do we know about the console some fans are dubbing the 'Xboy'?

What we know about Xbox handheld

[Xbox logo on a black background at a trade show]

Xbox could be looking to buy more studios(Image: Getty Images)

Back in 2016, former Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach told IGN's Unfiltered Podcast that an 'Xboy' handheld console had been considered, but it never came to fruition "because we just couldnt focus. We just did not have the bandwidth."

Since then, the Nintendo Switch has become one of the best-selling consoles of all-time, dragging the company out from the doldrums of the Wii U console and putting it back on top again with a hybrid handheld console that can also be connected to a TV.

Sony has seemingly given up on its handheld plans, with the PlayStation Portable (PSP) seeing huge success before vastly diminishing returns with its follow-up, the PlayStation Vita. The company instead uses the PlayStation Portal, connected to a PS5, to allow remote play, while Microsoft has been pushing Cloud Gaming for some time now.

Spencer said earlier this year in an interview with IGN that playing games locally would be "very important" to a hypothetical Xbox handheld, and has praised his Lenovo Legion Go in the past - one of many handheld PCs that have risen in popularity following the arrival of Valve's Steam Deck.

Some of those Steam Deck rivals already run Windows, which means they already have integration with Microsoft services like Xbox Game Pass, so Microsoft would likely need to do something special to entice users to buy its own handheld.

Exclusives are unlikely with Xbox titles already jumping to PS5 and Switch, so maybe Microsoft will position a potential 'Xboy' as the best place to play its titles on the go.

Time will tell, of course, and we'll be updating this as we hear more about the company's plans.

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