Microsoft wants to know if you'd buy an Xbox handheld
Microsoft is asking people what gaming handhelds they're currently using and whether they'd buy another
👀 Microsoft has sent out a new survey to gauge interest in an Xbox handheld
🤔 The survey asks whether you’d buy a new handheld in the next three to five years
🎮 It also asks which handhelds you own and what features you enjoy
☁️ Finally, users are asked whether handheld should be able to stream cloud games
We’ve already heard that Microsoft is secretly working on an Xbox handheld, and a recent survey only makes those rumors seem more plausible.
Microsoft has sent out a seven-minute survey (thanks, Windows Central) that centers around gaming handhelds. Specifically, Microsoft wants to know whether you’d be tempted to buy one in the next three to five years, which ones you already own, and the features you like most about it.
The survey went on to ask if you use Xbox Game Pass on any gaming handheld, how often you use a handheld compared to a console or a computer, and whether a gaming handheld needs to be able to stream cloud games. Hello, Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Microsoft’s CEO of gaming Phil Spencer has made his love of handhelds crystal clear in the past and explained how he’d like to see Xbox enter that space in some shape or form.
Speaking to Polygon, Spencer previously said: “I want my Lenovo Legion Go to feel like an Xbox. I brought [the Legion Go] with me to GDC. I’m on the airplane and I have this list of everything that makes it not feel like an Xbox. Forget about the brand. More like: Are all of my games there? Do all my games show up with the save [files] that I want? I’ll tell you one [game] that doesn’t right now – it’s driving me crazy – is Fallout 76. It doesn’t have cross-save.
“I want to be able to boot into the Xbox app in a full screen, but in a compact mode. And all of my social [experience] is there. Like I want it to feel like the dash of my Xbox when I turn on the television. [Except I want it] on those devices.”
The survey makes it seem even more likely that the higher-ups at Microsoft are preparing to make an Xbox handheld, though it’ll face some steep competition in the form of Valve’s Steam Deck, the Asus ROG Ally, and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2.
Sony is also reportedly working on a PSP 2 after it released the PlayStation Portal. The PSP 2 would be a native gaming device instead of just a peripheral for Remote Play, but we’ll have to wait and see whether Sony dares to take on Nintendo in the handheld space once again.
In other Xbox news, Microsoft will finally have an Xbox VR headset to rival the PSVR 2. Well, kind of. Meta announced it was working with Microsoft to create a limited edition Xbox VR headset, that sounds like it will be skinned Meta Quest 2 or 3 that will come with Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Wireless Controller. Still, it’s better than nothing.