There’s been a lot of speculation on when, or if, Microsoft will throw its hat into the ring with an Xbox-branded handheld, either in console or PC form. Unconfirmed leaks indicate that something along those lines could be coming as soon as this year—and if a new promo from Asus is to be believed, they might be the ones to deliver it.
Asus is one of the more visible brands that created handheld gaming PCs in the wake of the Steam Deck, with both the ROG Ally and the upgraded ROG Ally X. A new promo video that debuted on the company’s Twitter/X shows a telling little cartoon: the Omni mascot robot gets into a chamber with an ROG Ally and a Raikiri Pro, an Asus-branded PC/Xbox controller.
The resultant mishap appears to splice them all together into a shadowy handheld with an Ally-style configuration and LED rings around the thumbsticks. The video in and of itself would only be mildly suggestive of Xbox-ness, but as Xbox Era notes, the post includes the hashtag #PlayALLYourGames, and Microsoft’s official Xbox Twitter account replied with a meme post.
Between the rumors and the mild branding tag-team, there’s definitely something brewing here. I would guess that it’s a slightly tweaked version of the ROG Ally X, running Windows 11, which comes with some Xbox branding. The hashtag indicates to me that Game Pass streaming will be a big part of the package. Microsoft could bolster the partnership by giving the handheld pride of place in its retail and online stores, or by putting it into the same places you can buy Xbox consoles, like Walmart and Target in the US. Little snippets in the video—like “Marathon stamina,” “More capacity,” and “Faster speed”—could be indicative of hardware upgrades. Or meaningless fluff. Flip a coin.
But I very much doubt that this is a full-blown “handheld Xbox” that plays game files intended only for the console. If nothing else, with most of Xbox’s biggest “exclusives” also available on PC either as standard games or streaming on Game Pass, it would be a lot of extra work to make a smaller, less-powerful Xbox console that would arguably be less capable than something like the Steam Deck, or even the older Ally designs.
There’s no mention of a date in the video, even in preview form. (Oh, and in case you’re wondering: the post was made on March 31st. It could be April Fool’s related, but that seems unlikely given the lack of any real attempt at humor.) We’ll have to be patient to see what Asus—and Microsoft?—are cooking up.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.