by 
There's been a lot of talk about how Xbox's next "Project Helix" console will surely be an expensive device, especially considering the state of the industry and how prices continue to go up, but Asha Sharma seemingly has a plan for it.
In last night's Bloomberg Tech interview, Sharma was asked about Project Helix being "expensive", and she replied that it's "expensive if we do not innovate". She then went on to explain further about her plans to innovate in terms of Project Helix's price tag and Xbox's business as a whole.
Interviewer: "For this to pay off, it's going to have to be pretty expensive... do gamers still care enough to shell out that much?"
Sharma: "I think it's expensive if we do not innovate. I came to help that problem. It's natural that prices go up, every generation around us is raising prices, but I don't think you can raise prices through the hardware crisis that we're seeing, and so it will require fundamental change in terms of how we innovate and how we think about the business models and how we go bring this to market, and we're working on that."
This followed a question about the "most uncomfortable" thing that Asha Sharma saw when she came into Xbox, which she described as the memory and storage costs that are constantly increasing as a result of AI, which has led to price increases throughout the industry (most recently for the PS5).
She says the first 100 days of her reign at Xbox were about listening, learning and sparking off the "revive Xbox" campaign, while the next 100 days will be focused on "resetting the business" to return to growth and greater success.
Affordability for Project Helix and other Xbox projects is clearly a big part of that:
"The biggest challenge and opportunity is how do you make affordable products during that time, and that's what the next 100 days is going to be about."
For what it's worth, the interviewer also asked Sharma immediately before the "expensive" question about whether she could reveal how big Project Helix is with her hands, but the Xbox CEO humorously shut it down.
We do have confirmation that Xbox will talk about the next console later in 2026 though, but it won't be at this Sunday's Xbox Games Showcase. Hold tight - hopefully we find out more before too long!