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Just days after the release of Nintendo’s Switch 2, Xbox has announced its own third-party venture into the portable console market, dubbed the ‘ROG Xbox Ally.’
Microsoft has announced its new portable Xbox gaming device, made in partnership with hardware company ASUS.
Called the ‘ROG Xbox Ally,’ this new machine will be able to play Xbox games and Game Pass titles on the go, and is very aesthetically similar to the Nintendo Switch consoles and Steam Deck devices.
The console was revealed halfway through Xbox’s Games Showcase at Summer Games Fest 2025. Other announcements included High On Life 2, Outer Worlds 2, a re-release of the original Gears of War, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
The ROG Xbox Ally will be able to stream games and download them natively, with full access to the company’s Game Pass subscription system.
There are no details on pricing as of yet.
Two versions of the console will be available this winter, and both have typically confusing names for Microsoft. One is the ‘ROG Xbox Ally’ and the other is the ‘ROG Xbox Ally X.’ Yes, really.
The latter comes with additional storage, capping off at over 1TB with 24GB of memory.
One key difference between this portable device and others on the market is Microsoft’s Windows. This means that players will be able to access other third-party marketplaces and platforms such as Steam and EA Play, and aren’t limited to any one ecosystem.
There has been speculation as to whether Microsoft would be releasing a portable gaming device for well over a decade.
According to the BBC, the company has started and scrapped various iterations of the concept over the last few years, no doubt inspired and informed by the runaway success of the Switch in 2017.
The mobile gaming market has shifted over the last decade to a hybrid model.
The success of the App Store has pushed many casual gamers over to their phones rather than dedicated consoles, and the Switch ushered in a new era that merged home consoles with portable devices.
Sony, Microsoft and other platforms are doing their best to catch up with Nintendo’s sizeable market lead.
