Project Helix and the Steam Machine edge into the same living room space

Microsoft has begun unveiling Project Helix, a newly teased Xbox console promised to play both Xbox and PC games. Details remain scarce, but Asha Sharma, the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming, says more will be revealed at next week’s GDC. That announcement has made the Steam Machine—Valve’s SteamOS-powered mini PC with a new controller—look like a closer rival than it first appeared.

Valve’s box aims to bring the Steam library to a more console-like, consumer-friendly format, while Xbox branding carries broad recognition beyond the PC audience. A PC-capable console bearing the Xbox name could shift public perception and draw more non-PC players into living-room PC gaming.

Performance will be a key differentiator. Valve targeted 4K60 with upscaling on a semi-custom RDNA 3 chip, but hands-on testing of Cyberpunk 2077 ran more smoothly at 1080p than at 4K. RDNA 5 is mooted to land sometime in 2027, and there’s a good bet the new Xbox’s semi-custom chip will use some variant of it, which might make smoother 4K performance more feasible.

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