- Microsoft has revealed new details about its next Xbox console, Project Helix
- The system will feature a custom AMD-based SOC, co-designed for the next generation of DirectX and FSR
- It will also deliver improved ray tracing performance and capability
Following the unveiling of Project Helix earlier this month, Microsoft has now shared some of the console’s specs that will offer next-generation performance.
During a special keynote at GDC 2026 (thanks, IGN), Jason Ronald, VP, Next Generation, Microsoft, delivered a deep dive into the next PC/console hybrid Xbox, promising “an order of magnitude improvement” in ray tracing performance.
“The whole design of the console is to usher in the next generation of console gaming by promoting the latest and really breaking down a lot of those barriers,” said Ronald. “Project Helix is designed to play your Xbox console and PC games, delivering high performance and providing the ultimate player-first experience.”
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Ronald announced that it is working closely with AMD “to define the next generation of rendering and simulation,” and the console is powered by a custom AMD-based SOC, co-designed for next-generation DirectX and FSR, and will offer next-generation ray tracing performance and capabilities.
In addition to these features, Project Helix also includes “an increase in ray tracing performance and capability beyond what is currently possible with the Xbox Series X and S,” suggesting that Xbox is aiming to deliver a more powerful console compared to current-generation hardware.
“It also unlocks GPU-controlled workload execution, eliminating CPU bottlenecks, meaning the GPU can actually generate its own workload in real-time, delivering a massive boost in performance and enabling massive real-time simulation and large complex worlds using runtime-generated geometry and large-scale interactive worlds that players actually want to engage with,” Ronald said.
In addition, Project Helix is ”truly designed for the next generation of neural-assisted rendering,” and that, “We’ve reached some of the limits of what’s possible with traditional rendering techniques, and if we want to continue to advance the state of the art, we have to invent entirely new technology.”
“The key part of it is how we integrate the next version of AMD FSR into Project Helix and into the Xbox Game Development kit. And this is really designed for the next generation of neural rendering techniques, whether it’s neural materials, whether it’s generated images, or even if you think about things like the latest ML-based upscaling techniques or super-resolution techniques,” continues Ronald. “You’re thinking about brand new ML-based multiframe generation. And there are even new capabilities such as a completely new ray recovery technique that is truly designed to deliver high-performance ray tracing for both real-time ray tracing and path tracing.”
During the keynote, Ronald also confirmed that Microsoft plans to ship alpha versions of the hardware to developers from 2027, suggesting that it will most likely be a while before the console will be in the hands of gamers.
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