Xbox’s handheld gaming PC gets an October release date

Xbox is in the midst of its first Gamescom broadcast, with another set to take place tomorrow, and it just dropped the release date for its new Xbox-branded handhelds. 

In the stream, and confirmed on the Xbox Wire blog, Microsoft confirmed that the ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X will be released on October 16, 2025. 

The new handheld gaming PCs will run Windows, as expected, with a few minor tweaks to make the most of the handheld form factor. The Xbox app on the handheld will have a new full screen experience, with new options that minimize background activity when launched, making it effectively a Windows version of the Steam Deck’s Big Picture gaming mode. 

The devices will also bring improvements to the Game Bar overlay, and include Asus’ ROG Armoury Crate SE for tweaking the device’s hardware settings, much like existing ROG Ally devices. While some of these new improvements might come to other PCs, we wouldn’t expect Armoury Crate to be included — this is an Asus device, at the end of the day. 

Microsoft is also adding a new Handheld Compatibility Program, which is a series of badges applied to games depending on how optimized they are for handheld play. There are two badges that can be applied normally – a Handheld Optimized badge and a Mostly Compatible badge – which effectively map onto the Steam Deck’s Verified and Playable badges. 

Microsoft hasn’t said how much the devices will cost, but a Best Buy listing has suggested that the ROG Xbox Ally will cost $549.99 while the ROG Xbox Ally X will cost $899.99.