Very little is known about XBOX Project Helix, and yet, analytical firm S&P Global's report suggests that it'll sell fewer units than Xbox Series X and S. According to Forbes' Paul Tassi, this outcome is "disastrous".

In their first year, XBOX Series X and S consoles reportedly sold 7-8 million units. According to S&P Global's report, XBOX's next console may only sell about 2 million units in its launch year.

This could be extremely damaging, as it would be much lower than the first-year sales of any of the current-gen consoles, including PS5 (roughly 17.4 million) and Nintendo Switch 2 (approximately 19.86 million).

As a result, Microsoft may incur heavy losses due to poor sales.

XBOX Project Helix has not even been shown to the world yet. However, some reports suggest that it may be a disc-less console/PC hybrid.

S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Neil Barbour explained the rationale behind their 2 million unit forecast.

"Our forecast is functionally splitting the difference between a proper Xbox successor and an Xbox-certification program with PC OEMs, and readers should treat the post-2027 Microsoft trajectory as a range of outcomes contingent on decisions yet to be made or revealed," he said, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz.

Basically, S&P Global's analysis separates a console from an open PC platform. The latter would not count as 'console sales' under their analytical model because an open pc system won't count as a true console.

Both may appeal to distinct player bases.

Regardless, the analysis comes way before Microsoft officially reveals XBOX Project Helix or starts selling it. But like every other gaming platform, XBOX has also been hit hard.

XBOX and PlayStation have recently raised the prices of their consoles in the past few months. Naturally, upcoming consoles, just like XBOX Project Helix, may also enter the market at a high price point.

XBOX Project Helix: Can gamers afford the next generation of console?

The future of video games appears increasingly troubled each passing day. One of the biggest problems the market is currently facing has to do with RAM and memory shortages.

Due to chip shortages, it has become more and more expensive for companies to make new console units. The more it costs to make a console, the higher its price.

If the prices are too high, gamers may simply not be able to buy them.

XBOX CEO Asha Sharma resonated a similar sentiment during an interview.

"I think we've reached a point where it will be hard to imagine that mass audiences can afford thousands of dollars to spend on a console generation," Sharma told Fortune in an interview, "and so I think we'll start to see radically different business models that we never expected start to come into orbit later this year."

Soon after this interview, Sharma announced that 3,200 XBOX employees would be laid off throughout FY 2027 in what she called the most significant restructure in company history.

Would you be willing to pay over $1000 for a console? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Prit Chauhan

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason