Earlier today Game Informer visited an invite-only press event to play with the ROG Xbox Ally X, one of two gaming handhelds Microsoft is bringing to market this holiday. The handheld is weighty and ergonomically satisfying, but my favorite discovery is that players can launch Steam games natively from the Xbox dashboard.
The game library, which players may access at any time by pressing its dedicated button on the handheld, features all your titles regardless of which platform you own them on. A discrete label beneath the game’s title denotes which storefronts they belong to. Furthermore, you can quickly access third-party storefronts like Steam and Epic Games Store by pressing the Ally’s Xbox button, which launches the Windows Game Bar, and selecting the desired application just beneath your recently played games.
“Our new aggregated library lets you quickly access all of your games. Because this is Windows, you can launch and play natively, both your games from Xbox as well as other leading PC storefronts,” Roanne Sones, head of Xbox devices, says. “You can also stream your console games through cloud gaming or remote play. So what this means is that your library, including hundreds of Game Pass games and all of your installed games from third-party storefronts, is all in one place for you, ready to play on your Xbox Ally through remote play gaming or natively on the device.”
Many questions remain, including whether Microsoft tracks data to unlock Xbox achievements while playing a game from another storefront like Steam or Epic Games Store. We’ve reached out to an Xbox representative for comment.