Xbox tease new handheld while Sony quietly preps its own challenger

Following the official unveiling and close-up look at the Nintendo Switch 2, both Sony and Xbox are looking into new handheld devices, potentially for a release sometime in the future.

Xbox has long been rumored to be working on its own first-party handheld, with rumors pegging its release to be sometime in 2027. As for Sony, there have only been rumors based on patents that have become public, with no date mentioned as to when the company could release a PSP 2-esque device.

However, with Nintendo's recent Switch 2-focussed Direct it has both Sony and Microsoft stirring the handheld development pot, as Sony is currently probing its PlayStation gamers with questions about their favorite aspects of the Nintendo Switch 2 device and launch, in what seems to be an effort to gather as much intelligence as it can on what gamers like about the console for its own handheld.

As for Xbox, the head of Xbox gaming, Phil Spencer, has once again teased the existence of an Xbox handheld device, with the CEO talking to Justine about what Xbox fans could be excited about this year. Spencer responded by saying the following:

"We've teased and talked about handhelds and I'm very excited because we both travel some and sometimes you can't always take your console or my whole gaming desktop with me. But it is really around building the experience around the person and that's the part that gets me most excited.

This is not a single device at the center, it's not one game, it is the player at the center and make sure all of your games are available, all of your save games, all of your entitlements are available wherever you go, so that gaming can continue to grow as a form of entertainment."