This is the first console generation ever in which hardware that’s nearly 6 years old costs way more than it did at launch. And Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has finally stated what we all already know—that gaming is getting too damn expensive, and that the next generation of consoles needs to stop focusing on performance alone.
“We have reached a point where it will be hard to imagine that mass audiences can afford thousands of dollars to spend on a console generation,” Sharma said in an interview with Fortune. The Xbox CEO is likely referring to the next-gen Project Helix, proposed as a “premium” offering that will combine PC and Xbox gaming under one roof. “We will start to see radically different business models that we never expected start to come into orbit later this year,” Sharma added. Multiple hardware leaks suggest that Project Helix could be one of the most powerful consoles available—30% more powerful, by pure 4K framerates, than the rumored PlayStation 6, according to the mostly reliable leaker Moore’s Law is Dead. Any such console will cost a ton, and the ongoing RAM price apocalypse driven by the push for AI data centers will make it even less affordable over time. Expensive consoles drive losses, as evidenced by flagging sales of Sony’s PlayStation 5 after recent price hikes. “There is material work to do to make sure [Helix] is available to the people who want to play,” Sharma said, adding that the company is looking at “what is needed for console, rather than just the most premium, high-performance console in the world.”
