Xbox chief executive Asha Sharma has warned that memory and storage shortages will hit Project Helix pricing and availability, putting a supply squeeze right at the heart of the next box.
Sharma has barely warmed the chair since replacing the now-retired Phil Spencer at Xbox in late February, yet she has been busy binning the mocked “This Is an Xbox” campaign.
She has torn down the Microsoft Gaming identity for an Xbox-first structure, with Microsoft slapping “Return of Xbox” on office walls like it is a religion.
On 21 April 2026, Sharma cut Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $29.99 to $22.99 a month, while PC Game Pass dropped from $16.49 to $13.99.
At the same time, new Call of Duty titles were pulled from day-one Game Pass, with future entries landing 12 months later, which is a neat way to sell thrift as strategy.
In a Game File interview, Sharma provided a sharp warning about the next console and tied it directly to memory shortages.
Sharma said: “All of these things are an equation. Memory costs will impact pricing and availability. As we think about being where the world plays, we will take that into consideration. So we’re not ready to share a launch timeline right now. The world’s pretty dynamic. My number one focus, though, is to focus on what’s within our control: building a great console to play great games, including your PC games. All I can share is that we have development kits going out next year, and we’re working really hard, with a lot more to do and to learn. But we’re really excited about Project Helix and the initial feedback that we’re getting.”
Some fans were clinging to the hope that Microsoft would swallow part of the cost to help Helix land punches in a brutal market, but Sharma has not exactly sounded like she is in the mood to subsidise dreams.
Project Helix could cost as much as $1,200, according to next-gen console leaker Moore’s Law Is Dead, yet it is being pitched as delivering the value of a $2,000 or $3,000 gaming PC, which is where the real argument will kick off.
