Asus says the brand new Gears of Conflict is ‘ROG Xbox Ally licensed’
As great because the Steam Deck is, it’s not precisely omnipotent—it’s working on a laptop-style built-in GPU, in any case. That’s what makes the Steam Deck Licensed label a consolation for a few of its homeowners. Valve checks the large sport releases (and plenty of others in addition to) for compatibility, and reveals it proper on the Steam retailer web page. It appears like Microsoft could also be cooking up one thing related.
Yesterday, the official Asus ROG account on Instagram posted a promo picture of the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally handheld with the brand new Gears of Conflict Reloaded, saying that the sport is “formally ROG Xbox Ally licensed.” That is the primary we’re listening to of any such certification, main with an “official” designation and tagging the Xbox Gamescom presentation in addition. In accordance with earlier Microsoft bulletins, the ROG Xbox Ally will probably be on show on the European commerce present, and a date and value for the upcoming {hardware} are anticipated there.
Microsoft and its accomplice Asus are positioning the ROG Xbox Ally as a real brother—or maybe an in depth cousin—to the Xbox console. However it doesn’t matter what the advertising says, the ROG Xbox Ally is not an Xbox within the technical sense as a result of it runs Home windows, like most handheld gaming PCs that aren’t made by Valve. Home windows 11 has been a ache level for the Steam Deck’s competitors, unable to beat the Linux-based SteamOS for easy operation and effectivity, even when it will probably run a wider choice of video games. That stated, the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X will get a streamlined, game-focused interface for Home windows, which is able to come to different handheld gaming PCs beginning in 2026.
A system for certifying new and present PC video games for {hardware} will surely be useful… however it might even be more durable to implement, on condition that there’s a lot variation in Home windows-based handhelds. Valve can take a look at and certify video games for the Steam Deck because of its nearly completely built-in {hardware}. However the identical sport won’t run on, say, the brand new ROG Xbox Ally X and the unique ROG Ally (now two years previous) and MSI’s Claw sequence with its Intel chips as an alternative of AMD.
KitGuru appears to suppose {that a} wider certification system is coming, however I hasten to level out that that is only a promotional put up, and one for a Microsoft-published sport, too. It’s doable that this “official” certification is nothing greater than Microsoft clearing the brand new Gears of Conflict sport to be demoed on the ROG Xbox Ally {hardware} at Gamescom. And we nonetheless don’t have verified data for crucial issue on this new handheld’s launch: its price ticket.
