Case in point: the Xbox handheld. Rumors of some kind of Microsoft-made competitor to the Game Boy have been floating around since the original Xbox launched more than 20 years ago. And for even longer, anyone who tries to step up to Nintendo on its stomping ground — including Sega, Sony, and Nokia — gets, well, stomped.

Xbox chief Phil Spencer elaborates on the often rumored Xbox handheld, as Steam Deck and Windows PC gaming devices boom in popularity.

Xbox is exploring a PC gaming handheld, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told Bloomberg. In an earlier interview with IGN, Spencer had mentioned a hypothetical “Xbox gaming handheld PC device,” which now appears to be in the early research and prototyping stage.

Microsoft gaming head Phil Spencer has made no secret of his interest in an Xbox handheld to compete with the best handheld gaming PCs, such as the Steam Deck OLED and Asus ROG Ally X. But in an interview with Bloomberg,

Speaking to Bloomberg, the longtime Xbox executive addressed the ongoing speculation about whether Microsoft would hop into the current PC gaming handheld arms race. “ [The] expectation is that we would do something [in that category],

Xbox chief Phil Spencer said that the hardware team has created prototypes and is researching the market to solidify plans.

Microsoft is in a weird place with its current console offerings, but it looks like the company is planning to take launch a new Xbox handheld.