ASUS’ Xbox-branded ROG Ally – maybe the closest we’ll get to an official Xbox gaming handheld anytime quickly, if current reviews are true – launches this October, says a dependable leaker.
Particularly, it is claimed ASUS is focusing on a sixteenth October European launch date for the Xbox ROG Ally and its beefier-specced sibling, the Xbox ROG Ally X. That is in response to Dealab’s Billbil-kun, who has a protracted historical past of correct leaks.
Each machines had been formally unveiled in June, when it was confirmed the Xbox ROG Ally would come with an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor alongside 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage, whereas the Ally X – described as a machine for “probably the most demanding gamers” – options an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Excessive processor and 24GB of high-speed RAM.
On the time, ASUS would solely say the machines had been launching this “vacation” throughout choose nations together with the UK and US, and different particulars had been restricted. Nonetheless, Billbil-kun just lately claimed the Xbox ROG Ally will price €599 (round £520), whereas the Xbox ROG Ally X variant is claimed to be priced at €899 (roughly £780). Pre-orders for each machines will reportedly start on twentieth August, with an official announcement anticipated throughout Microsoft’s Gamescom showcase, which begins at 2pm BST on the identical day.
The Xbox ROG Ally and ROG Ally X, as we discovered beforehand, are each powered by Home windows 11, embody a full-screen Xbox interface, and have an aggregated gaming library with entry to put in video games from a spread of PC shops, together with Steam, Battle.web, and GOG. And, in fact, the machines help Xbox Play Anyplace titles.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has lengthy teased Microsoft’s plans for an official Xbox gaming handheld, and reviews earlier this yr instructed the corporate had settled on a multi-pronged technique that might initially see it companion with a third-party to launch an Xbox-branded transportable machine earlier than the tip of 2025 whereas it labored by itself in-house challenge to launch someday in 2027. Nonetheless, later reviews claimed a change in technique, with Home windows Central saying Microsoft’s inside handheld challenge had been “sidelined” in favour of extra third-party partnerships, whereas The Verge went additional, calling the challenge “primarily cancelled”.
Curiously, nonetheless, Xbox president Sarah Bond just lately introduced the corporate was partnering with AMD to “co-engineer silicon throughout a portfolio of units together with our next-generation Xbox consoles in your lounge and in your arms”. For now although, the one certainty is ASUS’ handhelds, and we must always get a confirmed launch date very quickly.
