Microsoft has given us a sneak peek ahead of its reveal of the next-gen Xbox console at GDC, and it looks like a popular but ancient feature is returning.
Last week, new Xbox CEO, Asha Sharma, announced that the next-gen Microsoft console is in the works and it’s codenamed “Project Helix”. She promised that details would be revealed at the Games Development Conference this week, but ahead of that big reveal, Xbox has made another intriguing tease.
Shared on the Microsoft Game Dev Twitter account, three photos were posted of Xbox consoles with the words “Xbox at GDC. Sneak Peek” with an accompanying fire emoji.
The consoles in the photos look very familiar. One looks to be a shell of an Xbox One X, a system that was released in 2017. However, unlike the typical black or white Xbox One X consoles, this one is grey and black. There also seems to be another image that looks like a limited edition Xbox One, of sorts.
However, both of these Xbox consoles are dev kits, as indicated by the engraving of “XDK” in the images. Yet, while the outer shells are older consoles, it’s on the inside that might count.
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Microsoft is obviously teasing the Project Helix reveal, and it’s very likely that inside of these shells is hardware that exceeds the power of current-gen consoles. This could mean that the development of next-gen games is also in motion, alongside the consoles.
At this time, we don’t know that for a fact, but a disc drive is something I said that I’d want to see in the next-gen Xbox console. A disc drive can be seen in one of the photos shared by Microsoft.
We know that the disc drive seen in the tweet is on an Xbox One dev kit, but this could also be an additional tease by Microsoft. The other dev kit console looks to be a digital-only Xbox One X. So, could Microsoft be teasing that two console versions will launch, one with and one without a disc drive? Only time will tell.
The Game Development Conference concludes on Friday, 13 March 2026. Hopefully, we’ll know for sure whether or not there’ll be a next-gen Xbox with a disc drive. I’ll have my fingers crossed. As always, we’ll keep you posted.
