Tag:

handhelds

An ROG Xbox Ally X and Ally shown during Microsoft's Xbox stream in June 2025.

Xbox handheld rumoured to be ‘essentially cancelled’ but the new Asus Xbox Ally is actually a preview of all future Xbox consoles, not just handhelds

by admin June 13, 2025

A new report on the Verge is claiming that the Xbox handheld console is toast. Or to quote directly, “it’s essentially canceled”. That initially seems confusing, after all hasn’t the first Xbox handheld only just been announced?

There are plenty of caveats to cover off here, not least that this is a rumour about a product that hasn’t even been confirmed to exist, let alone been launched. But there is something interesting going on that’s worth understanding.

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally handhelds announced a few days ago aren’t true Xbox devices. They’re PC handhelds using existing PC chips with a bit of a redesign, plus a new build of Windows that strips out the unnecessary gunk in order to create an OS that’s streamlined for playing games.

And that, as it happens, is what many industry observers think the model for all future Xboxes will be. In other words, the narrative goes that Microsoft won’t make Xbox consoles itself. Instead it with partner with companies like Asus on the hardware.

To be really clear, that won’t just apply to handhelds. That’ll be for all Xbox consoles. According to this version of the future of Xbox, it’s all about retaining Gamepass subscribers. Microsoft wants to keep them while transitioning away from making hardware itself.

So, that means creating this new streamlined version of Windows and licensing out Xbox branding to third parties. Microsoft can then use emulation or even streaming to support legacy Xbox titles running on what is essentially thinly disguised but standard PC hardware powered by a tweaked version of Windows.

As the Verge says, “the next-gen Xbox platform is being built in the open, with devices like the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. These handhelds seem like a market test for where Microsoft goes next with the combination of Windows and Xbox, and the company’s goal to turn any screen into an Xbox.”

In the long run if all this is correct, it will mean gamers being able to choose from a range of different “Xbox” consoles, with price points and presumably performance to suit everyone.

Moreover, the real motivation in putting the effort in with the cut-down build of Windows and streamlined UI isn’t for handhelds, which is a very small market. It’s for this purported new generation of third-party Xboxes.

As Tom Warren says on the Verge, “I don’t think Microsoft is doing a bunch of Windows and Xbox work just to have this software running on handhelds. I think this work will give Microsoft the ability to control the console-like experience and UI on a variety of hardware, in a way where it can upsell Game Pass, its own Xbox PC games, and more.”

This bears out in something we spotted in the latest Xbox Games Showcase: Microsoft switching to ‘Xbox PC’ in all its branding and noting Steam as a competitor. It could be nothing, but it does signal a change of approach for Microsoft, Xbox, and Windows gaming.

For now, none of this is confirmed. But the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally, plus that streamlined version of Windows, definitely indicate a new direction for Xbox. We’ll be watching closely.

Source link

June 13, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Xbox Ally handhelds: Microsoft takes its next step towards a Windows-driven future

by admin June 10, 2025

After reports that Microsoft is “sidelining” its own first-party developed handheld, the new Xbox Showcase revealed two new mobile devices – Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. These machines are hardware collaborations with Asus, bringing Xbox hardware design ideas to the table in combination with a revamped version of Windows that puts gaming first. There are profound, welcome changes here – but one big question needs to be addressed. Is this the first new Microsoft offering no backwards compatibility with the Xbox digital library? Is this an Xbox that doesn’t play Xbox console games? If so, this is a bump in the road in Microsoft’s journey forward – and must be addressed.

First up, let’s examine system specifications on the new devices. From a Digital Foundry perspective, the most interesting offering is the Xbox Ally X, which is effectively an evolution on the device that I’d rank as the current best PC handheld – the Asus ROG Ally X. The form factor gets larger, the Xbox handles, impulse triggers and Xbox button are added and the AMD Z1 Extreme processor is swapped out for its revised Z2E, based on the most recent Strix Point architecture. 24GB of RAM is maintained from ROG Ally X to Xbox Ally X, but with a speed bump to 8000MT/s. A generous 80Wh battery completes the package.

It’s interesting to note that Microsoft and Asus have opted for silicon that retains the NPU (neural processing unit) from the original Strix Point design, when Z2 Extreme variants without the NPU active are specified. It’ll be interesting to see what Microsoft does here, but a port of its AutoSR super resolution feature – which we’ve looked at in the past – would be an obvious technology to port. Frame generation at the expense of further latency would also be viable.

After a reveal trailer at the Xbox Showcase, Microsoft released a more detailed video about the Xbox Ally and Ally X.Watch on YouTube

Next up, there’s the Xbox Ally, with a similar shell (no impulse triggers or USB4, however, plus a pared-back MicroSD slot) but substantially downgraded specifications. The Z2A processor is – in all likelihood – a re-spin of the Aerith chip at the heart of the Steam Deck. It reportedly has the ability to hit 20W over Deck’s 15W and has compatibility with faster 8533MT/s memory, but on the latter point at least, only 6400MT/s memory is in place. Total system memory is a pared back 16GB LPDDR5X. Bearing in mind how many triple-A titles are struggling on Steam Deck with similar specs, I’m having trouble reconciling this device with Microsoft’s claims that it’ll run triple-A games. I think that putting out this hardware is a big mistake, but I’d love to be proven wrong.

Both devices have the same screen as the original Asus ROG Ally – a seven-inch 1080p 120Hz display with VRR support. While this screen is old and not particularly impressive in terms of key aspects like contrast and colour reproduction, VRR is a massive win. The problem with mobile graphics performance is how variable it is, so any hardware that smooths off performance issues is worth having. This – in combination with its massive battery – is why the Ally X is my favoured PC handheld, for now.

On the hardware side, there is nothing here that is particularly surprising, especially in the wake of recent leaks, but it is highly difficult to take the non-X Ally seriously in a world where the much more potent Z1 Extreme is available in devices like the original Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, both of which are somewhat long in the tooth now and often subject to hefty discounting. On the software side, however, things are looking much more interesting.

Manage cookie settings

What we’re looking at here is another step forward in Microsoft’s strategy to diversify the brand away from our traditional understanding of a console-led platform – a necessary step, but one with a number of challenges. Key to future plans is bringing together Windows and Xbox, which involves a substantial revamp to the Microsoft operating system. A big, bloated do-anything-for-anyone tool needs to be slimmed down for gamers and made more efficient for the growing handheld PC market. And if you’re efficient on handheld, the advantages transition over seamlessly to desktop – or console. Clearly, Microsoft has plans for this games-focused version of Windows, starting with compatibility with the original ROG Ally, Ally X and presumably other PC handhelds with similar silicon.

This new version of Windows doesn’t boot into the desktop, it boots into new Xbox software. Access to your PC digital library – and indeed other non-Xbox storefronts – is also seamlessly integrated, making it a one-stop shop for your games library. Intriguingly, the Asus Armory Crate (used for custom tweaking of the device) is also integrated into the Xbox Ally’s iteration of Windows. On a broader level, xinput compatibility for functions within Windows such as PIN input and UAC prompts is also baked into the new version of the OS, replacing prior feeble and unreliable third party attempts to get this working.

Windows itself has apparently been “debloated” to a certain extent, offering up more system memory for the games themselves, while sleep time is expected to increase by a factor of 3x based on efficiency gains made by the Windows team.

The Xbox Ally X comes with a neural processor unit (NPU) so our humble suggestion would be for Microsoft to integrate a port of its AutoSR technology, as found on its Snapdragon X Elite Surface laptops.Watch on YouTube

All of this is a crucial step forward in unifying Windows and Xbox – which in itself is a fundamental element of the “this is an Xbox” strategy, but there is another big challenge facing Microsoft – integrating existing Xbox digital libraries into Windows. Microsoft has tens of millions of active users within its existing ecosystem that cannot be left behind – and each and every one of those users should expect to be able to access their Xbox libraries on any Xbox device. Right now at least, the Xbox Ally devices cannot run native Xbox games on the console. The cloud service could act as a back-up of sorts by streaming Series S games (and prior Xbox consoles via backwards compatibility) but the whole point of a handheld is a mobile device you can take anywhere – not take anywhere that only has robust internet access.

The final piece of the puzzle with the transition into a Windows/Xbox hybrid utopia has to be a comprehensive backwards compatibility set-up, but how viable is that for these handhelds? On the face of it, support for OG Xbox and Xbox 360 titles should not be too difficult. Both of these machines effectively max out at 720p resolution, so both Xbox Ally and Ally X have the GPU power to get the job done. On the CPU side, the Ryzen CPU cores in the new hardware are generations beyond the Jaguar cores in Xbox One which – remarkably – delivered higher game performance than the original hardware, even in the case of Xbox 360’s original PowerPC code. All that remains are potential licensing difficulties in running console games on a PC, the extent of which is known only to Microsoft.

Further questions remain. Can Ally and Ally X handle the Xbox One generation titles? And what about the ninth generation Series consoles? This is where things get trickier – we’re looking at Microsoft moving the modern Xbox virtual machines over to Windows and at this point, the question is the extent to which the performance is there in these handhelds to run those games natively. In theory, based on what the Steam Deck achieved, Xbox One-like performance seems viable – and should be very easy for the Z2 Extreme.

Looking to get a grip on the kind of GPU power available to the Xbox Ally X? Well, the APU is based on the same Strix Point processor we’ve tested in the past in this video #content.Watch on YouTube

But what about Xbox Series S? I’d rule that out completely on both processors, meaning some other kind of solution would be required. Subbing in PC versions would be no problem for Microsoft first-party titles, especially with Play Anywhere in place to synchronise game progress – but what about third-party games bought within the Xbox ecosystem? Some kind of agreement with publishers to use their PC versions? It sounds like a nightmare but ultimately, Microsoft is going to need some kind of solution to bring consoles games into this new hybrid Xbox/Windows ecosystem.

However, perhaps the hottest topic for speculation concerns price-point. The non-X Ally features Steam Deck-equivalent silicon, so the concept of selling this at anything more than a similarly equipped Deck is – in my opinion – out of the question. That leaves the Xbox Ally X – a further enhanced version of the existing Asus ROG Ally X, which costs $800, making it very much a premium device. Unless Asus is willing to lose some of its margin, or Microsoft calls in some favours with AMD and other suppliers, it’s hard to imagine that it will be any cheaper.

There are many outstanding questions then and not too many answers based on my pre-brief and the various YouTube videos I’ve seen based on what seems to have been a highly limited hands-on event in Los Angeles last week. Microsoft has been very careful in how its transition strategy has been communicated ever since the infamous “four games” business update and it looks like we’re going to need to wait some time to get full details on the Xbox Ally and Ally X. I’ve been following the evolution of gaming handhelds since the Steam Deck arrived – but Xbox Ally is something different, something important. It may well be our first proper look at how Microsoft envisages the future of Xbox – and I can’t wait to check it out.

Source link

June 10, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Xbox Ally Is The Best And Worst Of Handhelds In One Place

by admin June 9, 2025

Microsoft’s new ROG Xbox Ally has a lot to prove in the market of handheld consoles. The Switch 2 was only days old when the company officially unveiled its competitor during the Xbox showcase. With PlayStation’s Portal mostly being a streaming device that offers a very specific, incredibly niche player benefit (despite it feeling very good in your hands), the Switch 2 and the Steam Deck still largely have the handheld market cornered. The Ally, meanwhile, is the endgame to the “Play Anywhere” tagline Xbox has been touting for years.

Nintendo Switch 2 Could Launch With Almost No Reviews

Microsoft putting a console-quality Xbox device in our hands would seem to literalize an idea that, until now, never felt like much more than a clever way to spin their bowing out of the console wars. Their tucking that white flag back into their pocket and pulling out a handheld competitor is an exciting prospect. I just wonder if it’s too little, too late.

I got to play with the device for a little bit, and yeah, if Microsoft can deliver, it will be one of the best handheld consoles on the market. But my mind did drift elsewhere when I held its heavy ass in my hands. Maybe it’s nostalgia playing tricks on me, but I can’t help but mourn how handheld gaming has morphed into an extension of the games and systems we play on our TVs and desktops.

None of this is inherently the Ally’s fault. Microsoft has benefited from watching the handheld console business thrive over the past decade. The Ally is hefty in your hands, rather than feeling like a toy as the original Switch did.

Admittedly, as a small man, it didn’t seem built for people of my size. My tiny hands had to reach to hit some of the buttons, and I could never quite figure out how best to hold the device to get the most leverage out of the whole controller. The weight of the thing didn’t help, as my wrists started to ache after just a few minutes of play. It’s a sturdy device, but it doesn’t feel like it’s built for everyone. I’m simply a little guy, but I imagine those problems might be even worse for folks with motor issues. I talked with some other people who have bigger hands, and they all said the Ally felt really good. So, while the console might have some really cool functionality and streamlining that makes it more appealing than the average handheld PC, it might not be the most inclusive machine, as it’s particularly uncomfortable for those of us who have trouble holding larger devices.

While your mileage may vary on holding it, one thing the Ally has over most other handheld gaming PCs is that Microsoft has streamlined its user experience to circumvent some of the hassles found with other devices. By linking your accounts across different launchers, the Ally lets you easily access your games across multiple services, such as pre-installed games, streaming through Game Pass, and others. Having everything in an easy-to-navigate HUD built for buttons and analog sticks makes the Ally one of the best choices to play PC and Xbox games on the go. Even if I can’t hold the device for extended periods, I can’t deny that Microsoft has built something that’s solved a lot of the problems people have with its competitors.

Shortly after my appointment, I held my Switch 2 and played a little bit of Cyberpunk 2077, and I think that device is probably better suited for people who have trouble holding bulkier handhelds like the Ally. I would love to see a model down the line that lets you disconnect the heavy controllers from the big screen, similar to the Switch’s tabletop mode. I think until Microsoft puts out something like that, I’ll have to stick with other devices.

Beyond form factor, most of these handheld consoles do the same things, it’s just a matter of which one feels better in your hands. I think that was one of my bigger takeaways playing the Ally: It’s nice that all of the Big Three are sticking their toes in the handheld market, but now that Nintendo has merged its console and handheld divisions into one device with the Switch, it does feel like we lost the charm and design philosophies of old handhelds.

Now that the components that house console-level power are small enough to fit into a handheld, we’ve lost any real need for a divide between games made for those devices and games made for consoles. Even mobile devices are offering console-comparable experiences, and the days of developers creating games for less-powerful hardware, specifically meant to be played on a device that fits in your pocket, feel like a long-gone memory.

A lot of indie developers are still carrying the torch, and you’ll find games evocative of the Game Boy and DS eras called “retro throwbacks.” Some of the more niche games that you would have found on a Vita in 2014, like The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, end up on Steam and Switch, but the era of a dedicated handheld doing things that feel built for those devices is over. I always dreamt of being able to play console games in the back of my parents’ car as a kid. But I don’t think I realized what we might lose in achieving that dream.

Source link

June 9, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Microsoft and Asus announce two Xbox Ally handhelds with new Xbox full-screen experience

by admin June 9, 2025

Microsoft and Asus have been working together over the past year to create not one, but two new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. Both of these Xbox Ally devices, part of the Project Kennan effort I reported on earlier this year, include a new full-screen Xbox experience on Windows that’s designed to be more handheld-friendly and hide away the complexity of Windows to focus on gaming instead.

The white ROG Xbox Ally is designed for 720p gaming, and the more powerful black ROG Xbox Ally X targets 900p to 1080p gaming on the go. Like the existing ROG Ally and Ally X, the new Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X share the same 7-inch 1080p screen, complete with a 120Hz refresh rate and VRR support.

The Xbox Ally uses a previously unannounced AMD Ryzen Z2 A chip, combined with 16GB of LPDDR5X-6400 RAM and 512GB of M.2 2280 SSD storage. The Xbox Ally X upgrades the chip to AMD’s Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, 24GB of LPDDR5X-8000 memory, and a 1TB M.2 2280 SSD.

The white ROG Xbox Ally ships with AMD’s Ryzen Z2 A processor. Image: Microsoft

The ROG Ally X adds a better AMD processor and impulse triggers. Image: Microsoft

All of these specs make them very similar to Asus’ existing Windows-powered handheld gaming PCs at heart, but there are some much-needed changes to the software side that could make the Windows handheld experience a lot better.

“We know that to take this handheld experience to the next level, we cannot do this alone,” says Shawn Yen, vice president of consumer at Asus, in a briefing with The Verge, admitting that some gamers have found it “frustrating and confusing” to navigate Windows with joysticks and button until now.

Microsoft and Asus have been collaborating closely on these two new Xbox Ally devices over the past year, and Yen says Microsoft and Asus “share a joint obsession” on these new handhelds.

That joint obsession includes Microsoft making good on its promise to combine “the best of Xbox and Windows together,” thanks to a new Xbox full-screen experience on Windows that’s designed specifically for handhelds. Not only can the Xbox Ally devices boot directly to this interface, but the companies claim you can easily get back to it using a new dedicated Xbox button on these handhelds, much like an Xbox console.

Microsoft doesn’t load the full Windows desktop or a bunch of background processes in this full-screen Xbox experience, putting Windows firmly in the background and freeing up more memory for games. Instead, you launch straight into the Xbox PC app, which includes all of your PC games from the Microsoft Store, Battle.net, and what Microsoft calls “other leading storefronts.”

The Xbox Ally with the new full-screen Xbox experience on Windows. Image: Microsoft

This aggregated gaming library means you’ll see games from Xbox, Game Pass, and all your PC games installed from Steam, Epic Games Store, and elsewhere in a single interface, much like what the GOG launcher offers. Earlier this week, we started seeing parts of this unified library appear in the Xbox PC app, and Microsoft says you’ll be able to access your full Xbox console library through Xbox Cloud Gaming or Remote Play to an Xbox console.

The idea is that you should be able to seamlessly launch any game you own, whether it’s actually installed on your handheld, streaming from your Xbox Series X over home Wi-Fi, or streaming from the cloud, though we have yet to try that ourselves.

Microsoft has also made some additional tweaks to the Xbox PC app and Game Bar to make this all more handheld-friendly, including the ability to log in via the Windows lockscreen with your controller, no touchscreen taps required. You’ll also be able to use this handheld-friendly Game Bar interface to easily launch apps like Discord, or alt-tab between apps and games, or adjust settings without having to fiddle with the touchscreen. You can read all about all the Windows changes in my deep dive look at this new Xbox PC experience right here.

These two Xbox Ally devices also have Xbox-like contoured grips. It’s as if Microsoft and Asus have taken an Xbox controller and squeezed a screen between the grips, similar to what Sony did with its PlayStation Portal. The grips have been designed like this to make it easier to wrap your hands around the entire controls, so you access all the buttons and triggers.

The Xbox Ally X even has impulse triggers like all modern Xbox controllers, so you’ll feel things like terrain of roads during racing games or the impact of bullets in a shooter, all thanks to the haptics on the triggers. Asus is also using a USB-C 4 connector that supports Thunderbolt 4 on the more powerful Xbox Ally X, offering the possibility of connecting a powerful external GPU to it, alongside a single USB-C 3.2 port and a UHS-II microSD card reader. The Xbox Ally uses two USB-C 3.2 ports instead.

The ABXY buttons on the Xbox Ally X. Image: Microsoft

Microsoft and Asus aren’t providing any benchmarks or a real sense of performance for these handhelds yet, and both use chips we haven’t tested. But interestingly, they appear to be focusing on battery life this time around.

“For this generation the most important thing to us is efficiency. Efficiency is our new superpower,” says Yen. “The games will be able to play cooler and quieter, and at the same time offer you a longer battery life for gameplay.” AMD told us in January that the Z2 Extreme would be both its most powerful and most efficient handheld chip yet, while the Z2 A is rumored to be based on the Steam Deck’s less powerful but battery-sipping Van Gogh-based chip.

Importantly, the Xbox Ally is using a 60Wh battery, 50 percent larger than the pack that shipped in the original ROG Ally, while the more powerful Xbox Ally X uses an 80Wh battery, tied with the Ally X and the largest you can find in a handheld today. The Windows tweaks may also improve battery, with Microsoft claiming it’s already seeing one-third of the drain when these Xbox Full Screen Experience systems are idle and asleep.

If you want extra performance, you’ll also be able to dock these Xbox Ally devices to Asus’ XG mobile device that offers up an RTX 5090 laptop GPU to overhaul how games play on these handheld devices.

These new Xbox Ally handhelds will launch during the holiday season later this year, and Microsoft and Asus are planning to share pricing and preorder information in the coming months.

Source link

June 9, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Xbox’s handhelds have Valve in their sights, not Nintendo | Opinion

by admin June 8, 2025

Microsoft has revealed its first Xbox co-branded handhelds, the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X, both collaborations with Asus. They will launch in the holiday period of 2025, with pricing information not yet revealed.

The Xbox Ally is being pitched as a “great value” generalist device, while the Xbox Ally X is described as an “ultimate high-performance” handheld for more demanding players, not dissimilar to how Asus’ existing ROG Ally and Ally X handhelds are pitched. Both use AMD processors.

These Windows 11-enabled handhelds include Xbox-branded buttons, a gaming-focused interface, and an aggregated library feature that brings players’ software together from across different PC storefronts, as well as the subscription library of Xbox Game Pass.

On top of playing PC games natively, the two handhelds can stream players’ console libraries using Xbox Cloud Gaming and Remote Play.

The interface will be familiar to anyone who’s owned an Xbox console in the past decade or so. The ‘Xbox full screen experience’ apparently optimises the Ally and Ally X specifically for gameplay functionality. Non-essential tasks are deferred by the device, dedicating more resources to playing games, according to Microsoft.

The contoured grips of the console were apparently designed with the principles behind Xbox’s wireless controllers in mind. Accessibility features from Xbox and Windows will be carried over to the handhelds. Xbox Play Anywhere – where a single game purchase functions across PC, console, and cloud gaming – extends to these devices too.

Each handheld has a dedicated Xbox button to bring up the Game Bar and switch instantly between apps and games, too.

Launch territories for the Xbox Ally and Ally X are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Xbox says other territories where ROG Ally products are currently available will follow.

So: what does Microsoft’s messaging tell us about who it’s targeting with the two handhelds?

The Windows factor
The ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X further Microsoft’s objective for players’ game libraries to come with them no matter which device they’re using. For players with both a PC and Xbox console, plus a Game Pass subscription, the way save data is synced seamlessly between the two is something to behold. A handheld device enables Xbox to extend that ecosystem one step further, which will be welcome to diehard users.
But the goal here goes much further than that, and this is where the Windows 11 element of the new handhelds is crucial.
Windows is talked up by Microsoft as a major plus in the announcement, with careful wording – “because these handhelds run Windows, you have access to games you can’t get elsewhere, so you can enjoy the full freedom and versatility of PC gaming all straight from the Xbox experience” – feeling like it has Valve firmly in its sights.
The Steam Deck, which kicked off the current wave of PC handhelds, plays games via the Linux-based SteamOS. While it’s excellent at running games directly from the Steam library, it’s not particularly flexible when it comes to installing and running games from other storefronts (unless you’re prepared to tinker with the device). It’s also only available to buy from Steam itself.
Microsoft clearly identifies an opportunity to offer a more wide-ranging device to PC players out of the box, while courting its existing console audience with the Xbox branding.
Superficially, Microsoft and Asus have just made two new versions of the ROG Ally that happen to have an Xbox button on them. But the opportunity here for Xbox is in positioning: the gulf between more specialist PC handhelds (the Steam Deck has sold around 4 million units, according to analysts) and Nintendo’s mass market Switch (150 million sold) is enormous. Could Microsoft bridge the gap between those audiences?
The PC gaming handheld space is still relatively new, after all. Having two devices with different specs, too, nicely mirrors Microsoft’s own strategy with the Xbox Series S and X, and isn’t something Nintendo or Sony have tried before with their handheld launches.
Ampere Analysis’ Piers Harding-Rolls shared his thoughts on Microsoft’s approach on LinkedIn. “This partnership shows Microsoft’s increasing commitment to the PC gaming market, and its intent to protect and expand the role of Windows as the dominant gaming platform,” he said.
“A lot of Microsoft’s recent work in Game Pass has been more directly focused on the PC gaming space, as it believes this is where there is a substantial opportunity to grow its audience reach compared to console.”
Harding-Rolls believes that teaming up with Asus has allowed Xbox to leverage the company’s trust with PC gamers, accelerate its entry into the market, deepen the integration with Windows and Xbox services, and counter the growing influence of Valve’s handhelds.
According to Harding-Rolls, Windows PC handhelds sold 1.2 million units by the end of 2024.
The key unknown, of course, is price. The cheapest model of Steam Deck retails for $399. Asus has not made a handheld that cheap, with the original ROG Ally launching at $600 before dropping in price.
Priced reasonably, Xbox could court both its existing console players and PC users enticed by a Windows handheld tailored for games. But we’re in a landscape where home console prices have been going up, not down. And given its specs and capabilities, per IGN’s hands-on, the Xbox Ally X simply will not be cheap.
Still, with the Switch 2 having launched this week, this announcement leaves the handheld gaming market in a more interesting state than it’s been in years. And with the PS5 dominating the home console market this generation, it’s exciting to see Xbox pick a different fight with its new hardware.

Source link

June 8, 2025 0 comments