Xbox ROG Ally line coming in October with Handheld Compatibility Program

Microsoft has announced the release date for the Xbox ROG Ally line of gaming handhelds. It has also announced the Handheld Compatibility Program, which will make more titles optimized for the ROG Ally.

The handheld, which was announced during the Xbox Game Showcase at Summer Game Fest, is a collaboration between Asus and Microsoft. The Xbox ROG Ally will feature Xbox branding and a bespoke operating system, adding to ROG’s successful gaming handheld line.

Both handhelds will be released on October 16. Details about pricing and pre-orders are coming soon, according to Microsoft.

Alongside the announcement, Microsoft has revealed the Handheld Compatibility Program, which it calls “a new Xbox initiative designed to make more games ready to play on your supported handheld. 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.”

This appears to be Microsoft’s version of the Steam Deck Verified tag, which developers and publishers have used as a selling point for Steam Deck titles for years. At launch, there will be two tags, Handheld Optimized and Mostly Compatible.

Microsoft’s descriptions for each tag are:

• Handheld Optimized: This indicates games that are ready to go—with default controller inputs, an intuitive text input method, accurate iconography, clear text legibility, and appropriate resolution in full-screen mode—so you can spend less time adjusting settings, and more time defeating that next big boss.

• Mostly Compatible: This indicates games that may require minor in-game setting changes for an optimal experience on handheld.

At launch, the Xbox Ally will be available in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with availability to follow “for other markets where ROG Ally series products are sold today”.

Its announcement follows comments from Microsoft’s VP of Next Generation, Jason Ronald, who said earlier this year that any future handheld device would combine “the best of Xbox and Windows.”

“I would say it’s bringing the best of Xbox and Windows together because we have spent the last 20 years building a world-class operating system, but it’s really locked to the console,” Ronald told The Verge. “What we’re doing is we’re really focused on how do we bring those experiences for both players and developers to the broader Windows ecosystem.”