Former Xbox Boss Ed Fries Describes Project Helix’s Approach Similar To The Original Xbox

In what feels like an unrealistic amount of momentum, a good string of news has rolled out for Xbox in recent time. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Asha Sharma, formerly Microsoft AI, would take the helm from Phil Spencer. In the new role, Sharma expressed reintroducing the ‘renegade’ image that Xbox was known for and campaigned to deliver on the cries from its users. At the same time, Project Helix was first teased as well, entering the next-generation for Xbox.

Since then, there has been a growing amount of newscycles that shine good light on Microsoft’s gaming endeavor. This week, it was revealed that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is officially reducing its pricing. Not only that, Sharma’s leadership has also dismantled the damaging ‘This Is An Xbox’ campaign too. Even more, a return to backwards compatibility is also shared to make an appearance later on in 2026.

Recently, former Xbox boss Ed Fries spoke on the news surrounding Project Helix. Speaking to Expansion Pass, he admits that the image that the new effort is chasing bears a striking resemblance to the Original Xbox when he was at Microsoft. You can watch the segment in the video below:

“It’s [Project Helix] very similar to what the Original Xbox plan was. Not the Xbox we shipped, but the original plan was that it was going to be a PC running Windows and it was basically just a PC that looked kind of like a console and pretended it was a console, but it was really a PC underneath,” Fries explained. Talking points from Microsoft has been very evident on the new focus for PC when it comes to the future of Xbox. 

At GDC, it was explained that development for PC games are a blueprint for how games on Project Helix will be approached as well. “”Build for Xbox. Simpler, more unified path to reach more payers with less effort,” the slide at GDC reads. The overall focus is PC, but this initiative then bleeds into the in-house console as well as cloud streaming as the ecosystem for Xbox moving forward.

Elsewhere, new information was revealed regarding Project Helix. It was indicated by head of next-gen Jason Ronald that the new console will ship from Microsoft internally. The report and while exclusively releasing from the Xbox firm, discussions of first-party games breaking its multiplatform ties was also breaking around the same time. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you surprised how much Xbox is going full circle with its newest console?