The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X portable consoles, jointly developed by Microsoft and ASUS, will officially go on sale in most global markets on October 16, 2025. The companies have not yet launched pre-orders or disclosed the cost, The Verge reports.
The ROG Xbox Ally is rumored to cost €599, while the more powerful Ally X is rumored to cost €899. In the US, prices could be $549 and $899, Dealabs reports. Microsoft was supposed to announce them alongside the release date, but postponed them due to uncertainty over Trump's tariffs.
Officially, both consoles will appear in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, China (Xbox Ally X only), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam and the United States. After that, a release in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Thailand is planned.
In addition to this, Microsoft has also announced a compatibility program for handheld consoles. Within it, there will be two labels: Handheld Optimized and Mostly Compatible. The first label will mean that the game fully supports the usual controls without the need for additional settings, and will also work in full screen mode at the correct resolution. Mostly Compatible may require some additional settings.
"We have worked with game studios to test, optimize, and verify thousands of games for handheld compatibility, allowing you to jump into the game without having to tweak settings, or requiring only minor adjustments," said Roanne Sons, vice president of gaming devices and ecosystem at Xbox.
Additionally, Microsoft will add a Windows Performance Fit indicator to let players know if a game is compatible and how well it will run. Both consoles will ship with a full-screen Xbox interface that will launch instead of the Windows desktop. The desktop itself will be accessible through the Xbox Game Bar menu.
Another major improvement for Microsoft's handheld consoles is Advanced Shader Delivery. It automatically loads a game's shaders when you launch Xbox Ally, so games run faster and smoother. It also improves performance and saves battery life.