Xbox has announced that its latest handheld console, the ROG Xbox Ally and X variant, will hit store shelves on October 16th, 2025.
The handheld console by Xbox Game Studios and ASUS ROG will release four months after initially being revealed through the Xbox Game Showcase back in June.
Xbox shared that the handheld console will be available in 35 different countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain and Germany, among others.
The announcement by Xbox also revealed the launch of the Handheld Compatibility Program, an initiative by the home console brand that aims to make more games optimised for a handheld experience.
There will be two indicators on the Xbox home screen. ‘Handheld Optimised’ covers games that are ready to play without adjustments. Meanwhile, ‘Mostly Compatible’ refers to games that may require changes through settings for the best performance.
Will the ROG Xbox Ally be Good for Esports?
Xbox’s upcoming handheld console has one crucial selling point: providing gamers the ability play both Xbox and PC games, through Steam and Epic Games Store, among others, on one device. This means that esports titles, such as VALORANT, Counter-Strike, League of Legends and more, can be played on the ROG Xbox Ally natively, on the cloud or through Remote Play.
The ROG Xbox Ally X in particular boasts respectable specs, including an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 CPU, 1 TB of storage, 24 GB of memory and a 120Hz refresh rate. While it may pale in comparison to the most powerful custom PC’s often found in esports, it stands shoulder to shoulder with other handhelds such as the Steam Deck and is much more powerful than the Nintendo Switch 2.
Handheld consoles have never seen professional play at the most elite esports events. This is because mice and keyboard peripherals are the universal choice for FPS and MOBA titles. Moreover, controllers have historically been used in specific scenes such as FGC and sports games like EA FC 26.
However, its price point and Xbox library may promote featured esports titles to a wider audience. As a result, interest in the esports scene could grow as handheld PC players become more interested in what the highest level of play looks like.
