Xbox CCO details unified approach for next-gen Project Helix console

Xbox’s first-party studios will collaborate closely with the hardware team as the company develops its next-generation console.

On the Official Xbox Podcast, CCO Matt Booty outlined the company’s unified approach to Project Helix and emphasized early involvement from publishing and development teams.

“One of the really cool things about us as a publishing and game development organisation – that makes us different from a lot of the other big publishers in the industry – is that we are side-by-side in the same organisation with the hardware team,” said Booty.

“Our teams are involved early on with thinking about visioning, what’s the planning, what are the specs – and of course we’re there every step of the way as these things come along.”

He continued: “As we’re done with many consoles before, those two teams will work hand-in-hand as we get that together. As the hardware comes online, our teams will be the first to get involved – there’s a lot of that already happening.”

Xbox manages 30 internal studios across Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, and Activision Blizzard.

Booty highlighted collaboration across teams, noting Blizzard Cinematics is assisting Playground Games with the upcoming Fable Reboot, while Rare supports Double Fine on its pottery game, Kiln.

“It is the case that we have got a lot of different studios, and they’ve all got their own cultures, so we think of it as a culture of cultures,” said Booty.

“I see a big part of my job is to provide just enough connection and structure across those that they can communicate with each other, that they can share things back and forth, but never to the point that we’re coming in over the top trying to change who they are.”

Xbox VP of Next Generation, Jason Ronald, shared additional details about Project Helix at this year’s GDC Festival of Gaming, stating it will deliver high performance and a player-first experience, supported by a multi-year agreement with AMD.

“We’ve reached some of the limitations of what’s possible with traditional rendering techniques, and if we want to continue advancing the state of the art, we have to invent brand new technology,” said Ronald.

He added that alpha versions of the console will be available starting in 2027.