An insider claims Microsoft’s next Xbox could cost ‘at least’ £750, as it looks to outdo Sony’s PlayStation 6 in terms of raw power.
At the moment, we know very little about Microsoft’s next gen Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, aside from that it will run PC games and be very expensive.
The latter was confirmed by former Xbox president Sarah Bond last year, when she described the console as a ‘very premium, very high-end curated experience’. Before that, there were rumours of it potentially costing over £1,000, although at the time that seemed steep if Microsoft wants any chance of staying competitive.
Another insider has now offered his thoughts on how much Project Helix will cost, suggesting that it could be as a high as £900.
This comes from YouTuber Moore’s Law Is Dead, who has been accurate in the past when it comes to PS5 Pro and Nintendo Switch 2 specifications. In a new video, he claims the next Xbox will utilise tech on par with AMD’s successor to its 9070 XT graphics card, and when combined with the ongoing RAM shortage, he explains how the costs could snowball.
‘I have a document that directly says AMD wants their successor to the 9070 XT, that uses the RDNA5 AT2 die,’ he says. ‘AMD has directly said in a document they’re targeting $550. Now, who knows what that really means, where prices will be, maybe that’ll end up being $650 next year.
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‘But if the graphics card itself, which uses the same chiplet [Helix] uses and uses the same type of RAM, is – let’s say it’s $600 – well, then what? You need to add more RAM for the Xbox. Alright, well, what would that really be? Like, another $200 there. Then the CPU die for Xbox is more expensive than obviously the output die that would be in the graphics card. But even then, you know, it’s not that big of a die. Even though its 3nm, another $100.’
He added: ‘If Microsoft wanted to sell this thing at cost, they could probably do so at around $900 if it was mass-manufacturered at a large scale. So anyone who thinks it’ll be $2,000, I don’t think the BOM cost [total bill of materials] suggests that.’
Moore’s Law Is Dead goes onto ‘estimate’ that Microsoft, if it wants ‘at least a small profit’ on the console, will sell Project Helix for at least $1,000 (£749).
He added: ‘So, I will say that I think expect at least $1,000. If they wanted to be crazy aggressive, I could see $900 (£674) and most likely I could see $1,200 (£898), but I don’t think more than $1,500 (£1,123).’
For a comparison, the 2TB Xbox Series X, the most expensive version available, costs £590 in the UK. As such, a price around £800 certainly feels possible if it is aiming for the ‘high-end’ crowd – unless Xbox decides to adjust its pricing strategy under its new leadership.
While Moore’s Law Is Dead suggests the PlayStation 6 will be less powerful in comparison to Project Helix, he doesn’t give a price estimation for Sony’s console. However, it’s expected it will be cheaper, although by how much is the big question. At the moment, the PS5 Pro costs £700, so unless the console gets a price cut, it will likely be higher than that.
An overlooked aspect of all this is Valve’s Steam Machine, which doesn’t have a price yet but is set to launch later this year. If that can provide a cheaper alternative for playing PC games on your TV, then could that eat into the appeal of the next Xbox.
The Steam Machine is expected to be more expensive than a traditional console but not as much as the upper estimates for Project Helix.
Elsewhere in the same video, Moore’s Law Is Dead covered his reasons why he believes the PlayStation 6 will not be delayed to 2029.
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