Handhelds have a long and illustrious history in the gaming world. Although several consoles technically predated it, Nintendo's Game Boy broke new ground for handheld gaming, providing near-NES-level experiences on the go. Nintendo continued to excel in handhelds with subsequent iterations of the Game Boy, and with the launch of the Nintendo DS in 2006, the company set a new bar for the industry. hand space, Xbox remained clear. But that will soon change.
After more than a year of speculation and rumors, Phil Spencer confirmed in a recent interview with Bloomberg that Xbox is indeed in the process of developing a handheld device. Granted, Spencer has also claimed that it will be a few more years before fans see it on the market. But when the Xbox handheld finally arrives, there's one obvious feature that's sure to set it apart from the competition.
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The Xbox handheld will have an ace up its sleeve
The Xbox handheld may have some stiff competition
The handheld market is probably busier than ever. The Nintendo Switch is now in its seventh year, and together with the Lite and OLED models, it has sold over 140 million units. While its hardware is objectively inferior to the last generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, the Switch's handheld nature, high level of brand recognition, and family-friendly bias have kept it at the top of the gaming world for decades. .
In 2022, Valve thought they would try to create a handheld console. In the two years since its release, the Steam Deck has been widely praised as one of the best handhelds ever made, capable of playing some of the most demanding modern games with very few limitations.
The handheld market may look a little different before the Xbox hits store shelves, but it doesn't have to be much. The successor to the Nintendo Switch is due to be revealed next year, and Valve has already confirmed that a second generation Steam Deck is in the works. So the Xbox handheld's competition might not be that different than if it launched now.
Additionally, a recent Bloomberg report suggests that PlayStation is also in the early stages of development for a new handheld console. If true, then the Xbox handheld will have some stiff competition when it launches.
Xbox Game Pass could be Xbox Handheld's secret weapon
Last year, Xbox tried to push the concept that Xbox isn't just a console, it's anything that can run an Xbox app. Xbox Game Pass has been at the forefront of this recent marketing push, with ads often showing gamers enjoying their subscription across Xbox, PC, mobile and a variety of other devices via cloud streaming.
When the Xbox handheld is officially revealed, it's very likely that Xbox Game Pass will be its main selling point, and for good reason. Putting Xbox Game Pass front and center on the upcoming handheld would be a huge boon in both the short and long term.
In the short term, Xbox handheld gamers will have access to a vast library of hundreds of games, all at no additional cost. And with the Xbox Game Pass library offering a full range of gaming experiences, players will be able to instantly test the power of the handheld console with countless AAA and indie games ready and waiting for day one.
In the long run, Xbox Game Pass would ensure that handheld gamers have an ever-changing library of games to return to. Additionally, while the PlayStation handheld could bring its library of PS Plus titles, Game Pass would still have an advantage since PS Plus doesn't add first-party games to the service on day one. And that edge will only get sharper over time, as Xbox's first-party offerings now include Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and Activision-Blizzard.
