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It ’s looking like a handheldXboxgaming machine will be releasing this year , and although that certainly sounds like an exciting view , the reality of therumored Xbox handhelddoesn’t seem quite as interesting . Unlike PlayStation and Nintendo , Xbox has always stayed out of the hand-held gaming market , traditionally sharpen on head - to - head home cabinet match - ups . In late days , Xbox has start to push the estimate of a package platform instead , expanding Xbox Game Pass across a spacious library of twist and contribute certain plot exclusives to compete consoles .
While these changes have made it potential to play some Xbox titles on handheld devices via cloud cyclosis , things have n’t moved as fast on the hardware goal . In November 2024 , Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer affirm thatXbox is working on a possible handheld system . The process he draw , however , advise that it would still be eld before a handheld hit the grocery store . A 2025 release would be far onward of those expectations , but the report merchandise is apparently something only separate from Xbox ’s primary explorations of hand-held hardware .
Xbox’s Rumored 2025 Handheld Is A Steam Deck Competitor
PC Gaming With The Xbox Name
According to reporting by Tom Warren ofThe Verge , the portable Xbox gimmick in the whole shebang for 2025 is n’t really a proper Xbox system . Instead , it ’s another handheld personal computer gadget in the vein of the Steam Deck , which popularized the construct of cramming personal computer ironware into a form that mistily resembles a Nintendo Switch . The Steam Deck has since been met with compete devices like theASUS ROG Allyand Lenovo Legion Go , each undertake to nail the hard balance between power and damage necessary to make PC play on the go likeable .
Although initial account referred to the Xbox handheld as Project Keenan , Warren observe that the proper projection name is obviously Kennan .
The 2024 Xbox handheld is reportedly another ASUS product , soit ’s closer to a newfangled ROG Ally model than , say , an Xbox take on the PlayStation Vita . That ’s not necessarily a big thing , as Xbox ’s involvement could still result in a strong product . One trouble that ’s chivvy Steam Deck competitors is the difficulty of reach a substance abuser experience that feel as polished as Steam Deck ’s SteamOS , and incline on customs duty Xbox software could provide a solid alternative . Valve did open up SteamOS as an alternative that competitors can offer , though , so other custom computer software is n’t strictly necessary .
While it has n’t been long since the Steam Deck ’s going , as more companies jump on the mobile gaming tendency there are more alternative than ever before .
Another potential advantage of the coaction is that the brand might glower the price rather than bring up it . Microsoft could more easily give to take a expiration - leader approachwith a merchandise that does n’t quite sprain a computer hardware profit or makes only minute tolerance . Like Valve and the Steam Deck , Microsoft has a vested involvement in fleece more people into a software ecosystem , something that is n’t as applicable to ASUS on its own .
A Revised Take On The ROG Ally Isn’t Anything New
The Xbox Brand Has Value, But It Doesn’t Change Everything
While ASUS Xbox handheld is a solid suggestion , it ’s not something that I can see myself commence excited about . Even if it does offer some advantages over its challenger , the inherently smashed margins of the hand-held PC play market make it unlikely that any exclusive production will result the competition in the rubble . Xbox brand or no Xbox brand , it ’s in the end just another choice in a scene that ’s already cover the bases , andeach new machine feels further removed from the innovation that set the Nintendo Switchor even the Steam Deck .
With the most recent Switch 2 leaks hinting at the console having faster wi - fi , it suggests Nintendo might last be improving online maneuver .
While the ultimate details of the reported machine could terminate up surprising me , it currently feel likea proposition defined more by brand time value than any significant jump in user experience . Some people who have n’t previously paid much attention to hand-held gaming PCs will take an interest group in an Xbox one . If you offered me the selection between a hypothetical ASUS ROG Ally 2 and an ASUS Xbox handheld with the same hardware and overall characteristic set , though , I would n’t have any real druthers .
An ASUS ROG Ally successor would have almost certainly indicate up regardless ; it just happens to have a new name confiscate to it . I ’d rather see ASUS waitress several long time to deport a large bounce in power and value than watch over up so quickly with a pin to Xbox branding , although both companies may just be read advantage of the muddle left by Valve ’s more patient approach to a Steam Deck continuation . I do n’t think I ’ll be tempted by a Steam Deck choice until that leap happens , and those who already own one may be even more reluctant to raise .
Xbox Might Still Have Something More Exciting In The Works
A True Xbox Handheld Is Still Potentially In Development
At the end of the day , I ’m simply not the target audience for the Xbox ASUS handheld , and perhaps those who love the Xbox ecosystem will be more enthusiastic . disregardless , there ’s nothing to paint a picture that the integral future of Xbox ’s hand-held forays lies in the report ASUS twist . If Xbox does continue to put to work on the hand-held explorations that Spencer mentioned in 2024 , we likely wo n’t see those until thenext console generation , but it could declare oneself a more unparalleled take on the concept than another PC gaming gadget does .
Xbox is reportedly sour on a raw console table with the working championship Project Keenan that could potentially remold Microsoft ’s gaming future .
As much as I love the Nintendo Switch and see the value in products like the Steam Deck , I’d be particularly aroused to see more diversity in the way that major companies approach the handheld mart . The pocketability of Nintendo ’s older handhelds and the more manageable budgets afforded to their game lodge in a valuable niche that ’s fallen by the wayside , and consider how many times Nintendo has now reinvented the wheel for portable devices , I ’m certain that there ’s just as much room to experiment with new ideas as there is to return to old one .
Whatever Xbox might ultimately relinquish , I still do n’t expect it to deviate too much from the melodic theme of the Steam Deck , as compatibility with cabinet Xbox titles is likely a bigger precedence than build a unequaled handheld ecosystem . That does n’t mean it could n’t be authentically creative , though , and I ’m interested to see what a 100 % Xbox take on the idea would be . For now , I ’m afraidXbox ’s rumored 2025 handheld wo n’t do enough to make it stand aside from everything else already on the market .
seed : The Verge
