Laying the groundwork for Project Helix?
Laying the groundwork for Project Helix?
Microsoft seems more determined than ever to combine Xbox and Windows — to the point that its next-gen Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, will play PC games too. Today, we learned Helix will go alpha in 2027. But the company isn’t waiting for Helix before it points Windows gamers in the Xbox direction. Starting in April, it’s bringing its full-screen Xbox mode to every kind of Windows 11 PC, including laptops, desktops, and tablets. And it’s renamed it “Xbox mode.”
Technically, you’ve been able to try the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) in preview since November 2025, if you were part of both the Windows Insider and Xbox Insider Programs. But it needed work, as well as a better name. When Microsoft originally shipped it on the Asus-designed Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X handhelds, we were clear: it didn’t meaningfully turn a PC experience into an easy-to-use Xbox one.
But if Microsoft is putting its full weight behind PC as the future of Xbox gaming, perhaps that will change change. It certainly hasn’t stopped updating the Xbox Ally; the pricier version now feels downright reliable, which is not something I’ve generally accused Windows handhelds of before.
Here at the 2026 Game Developers Conference, Microsoft also says it’s opening up Advanced Shader Delivery to all developers in the Xbox store, letting them speed up game load times by sending precompiled shaders when you download games there. (I’ve heard it’s a common technique on consoles, and Valve offers precompiled shaders with Steam.)
And, it’s hinting that it will bring classic Xbox games to PC, too: “As part of our 25th anniversary later this year, we’ll be rolling out new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past.”
If you consider yourself technical, you may want to check out Microsoft’s blog post for more GDC announcements, including updates to DirectX (moving towards neural rendering), DirectStorage (faster moving game assets for quicker load times) and graphics debugging.
For a more high-level overview of what Microsoft is doing at GDC, here’s the story we wrote live during the company’s Future of Xbox keynote.
