Jez Corden has hinted at an intriguing new rumor that says a lot about the current handheld gaming market.
On Twitter, Jez replied to Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming. When Tom openly opined that Microsoft could, like Sony, be investigating the prospects of making their own gaming handheld, Jez very simply replied, “They are.”
As we had covered yesterday, A YouTuber called Moore’s Law Is Dead shared a rumor about a new Sony handheld that was currently in development. We do have to note here that Moore’s Law Is Dead does not have that great a track record when it comes to these rumors, but he seems to still be credible enough for people to take seriously.
Even though Jez shared considerably less information, he has a better reputation and track record for rumors. So even if we don’t have as many details to scrutinize, his word does make it more credible.
Now, we had also pointed out how drastically the handheld gaming market had changed when covering the rumor from Sony’s end. Microsoft has never made a handheld gaming device, so we wouldn’t know how much better they would do compared to Sony, or for that matter, Nintendo. But there are so many possibilities for Microsoft because of their unique position in the industry.
So, we have seen Team Xbox somewhat informally lend credibility to the ASUS ROG Ally. The Ally is not an Xbox branded device, but it received some word of mouth promotion from no less than Phil Spencer, and Microsoft disclosed that they were helping ASUS with its development.
It isn’t a stretch to guess that Microsoft could be working with an OEM to make such a gaming handheld themselves. Microsoft of course have their own hardware divisions for Surface and Xbox, but OEMs, particularly laptop manufacturers, specialize in making Windows PCs that can be packed in small form factors, and have balanced out the battery, power, and cooling to fit those form factors.
Microsoft also has the option to work with Windows or Xbox OS to run such a gaming device, or even both. There would actually be a huge upside to have an all-in-one device with an Xbox layer for ease to get into gaming, and also a Windows so you can switch over if you need to do some things that are easier to do there.
But, like Sony, Microsoft also has to figure out how such a device would be profitable for them. We know that Microsoft is eager to push gamers onto a digital-only future. They could make a pitch for their device to be the portable option to complement their console or PC offerings, not necessarily replace it.
As for the hardware specs itself, it isn’t likely that Microsoft would be able to squeeze in Xbox Series S internals into such a gaming hardware. The Series S’ form factor is the limit for those parts, and they would need too much power and generate too much heat to make it feasible to even just have it run on battery.
So such a gaming device would probably be weaker, but on a smaller screen, games could be scaled down to run more efficiently. Microsoft would have to make hard decisions, balancing out power considerations with battery, and Xbox spec compatibility.
As a newcomer in this market, Microsoft would be facing a lot of uncertainty. In the face of gamers not realizing their success, however, the company is looking at high numbers for revenue, profit, and customer engagement, possibly the peak they are at for a decade now. So Microsoft could probably afford to take on the risks to make their own gaming handheld. We will just have to wait and see if this speculation for Microsoft and Sony really goes anywhere.
