Following recent claims Microsoft’s much-rumoured handheld Xbox will arrive later this year in collaboration with an unspecified “PC gaming OEM”, hardware manufacturer ASUS has shared a teaser trailer suggesting the machine is real and set to be revealed soon.
Word that Microsoft was partnering with a third-party company to release an Xbox-branded handheld this year first surfaced via Windows Central, which reported the device was being developed under the codename Keenan and would look “unmistakably ‘Xbox'”, sporting familiar design sensibilities and even an Xbox guide button.
Skip ahead a couple of weeks and ASUS has now shared a teaser for what appears to be its next-generation ASUS ROG Ally gaming handheld – a video that doesn’t perhaps immediately scream Xbox with its magenta hues and weird dabbing robot. However, at one point during its brisk runtime, a ROG Ally and Xbox-style controller are seen hurtling through the air before disappearing into a machine where some sort of fusing process unfolds.
The inference is clear enough, but Microsoft’s involvement in the project was seemingly all but confirmed when Xbox’s official social media account replied to ASUS’ teaser post with the side-eye monkey meme. Obviously, all this stays in the ‘speculation’ bucket until either party is ready to go beyond memes and teases, but the pieces are undoubtedly starting to fall into place.
According to Windows Central’s previous report, this year’s Xbox-branded handheld will be something of a stop gap while Microsoft continues developing its own Xbox gaming handheld internally. The company’s said to be targeting a 2027 launch for this other machine, which will reportedly arrive alongside an Xbox Series X/S successor and “several new controller options”.
However things pan out, it’s a pretty exciting time in the world of handheld gaming – not least because Sony is reportedly also working on its own handheld device in the form of portable PS5, while Nintendo’s hugely anticipated Switch 2 is just days away from its big reveal.