The Xbox ROG Ally and Ally X are Rocking Aussie Retailers this October

The new handheld era feels officially launched... what else will be an Xbox?

Microsoft has revealed during Gamescom that the partnered Xbox and ASUS ROG Ally and ROG Ally X would be launching on October 16 and will feature "expanded day-one availability".

The handhelds are set to compete directly with Steam's popular SteamDeck and Nintendo's freshly-released Switch 2, further enhancement of a thirst for roving gaming. At the time of publish, no local pricing has been announced, but we'll share that information when it comes through. In the meantime, here's some information on what you can expect with the 'this is an Xbox' actual kind of Xbox:

Advanced shader delivery: A new feature that preloads game shaders during download, so select games launch up to 10x faster, run smoother, and use less battery on first play.
New upcoming AI-powered features starting early next year on the ROG Xbox Ally X that enhance play, including:
- Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR): A system-level feature that uses the power of the NPU to upscale games running at lower resolutions—delivering high-resolution visuals and smooth framerates across a wide range of games, with no additional changes required from game developers.
- Highlight reels: AI captures your standout gameplay moments—like epic boss battles or victories—and generates short replay clips for you to share with friends or on social channels.

A cool initiative from Microsoft, also, is "Handheld Compatibility" which will see games being tagged as such if they've been optimised for your "supported handheld" (a nice nod that not everyone will be playing on the ROGs). Whether or not this holds development back, hinders features or enhances everything overall will remain to be seen, especially among the less financially supported studios just working to get the bloody thing out the door, but given the race to handheld dominance that's seemingly unlikely.

You can learn more here and as stated, stay tuned for more on local pricing and availability when it comes across our desks.

The new handheld era feels officially launched... what else will be an Xbox?

Author: Stephen Farrelly

Date: August 21, 2025

About the Author

Written By Stephen Farrelly

Stephen Farrelly is a veteran journalist and editor with more than two decades experience in the worlds of gaming, entertainment, lifestyle and sport. He is a proud pug dad, loves art in all forms (particularly street and tattoo culture), and is the director of Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd, this site's owner and publisher. When not dispensing words, he's also dispensing boutique beers as a taproom fixture at Bracket Brewing in Marrickville, NSW...