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Why Microsoft’s next Xbox should just run Windows already

18 June 2025 at 16:54

Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that it's not abandoning the home console market just yet. In a short video teaser, Xbox President Sarah Bond highlighted a "strategic multi-year partnership with AMD" that will include "our next-generation Xbox consoles in your living room and in your hands." But while we know that the "in your hands" part will include devices like the Windows-powered ROG Xbox Ally, there are still few specifics about what exactly Microsoft has planned for its future living room consoles (aside from what Bond calls "the next generation of graphics innovation").

Reading between the lines a bit, though, we wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft was getting ready to finally tear down the thinning wall separating gaming PCs and gaming consoles. A Windows-based, living room-focused Xbox capable of running generic Windows games could accentuate Microsoft's strengths in PC gaming while papering over many of the company's recent struggles in the home console market.

WindowsBox

The once-bright line separating PC gaming and TV-based console gaming has been deteriorating for years. On the hardware side, bespoke console chips and development environments long ago gave way to PC-like architectures that are simpler and easier for developers to work with. And on the PC interface side, efforts like Steam's Big Picture mode and SteamOS as a whole have strived to make playing on a PC with a handheld controller into a more console-like experience.

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Β© Aurich Lawson | Getty Images

Full-screen Xbox handheld UI is coming to all Windows PCs β€œstarting next year”

9 June 2025 at 15:20

One weakness of Valve's Steam Deck gaming handheld and SteamOS is that, by default, they will only run Windows games from Steam that are supported by the platform's Proton compatibility layer (plus the subset of games that run natively on Linux). It's possible to install alternative game stores, and Proton's compatibility is generally impressive, but SteamOS still isn't a true drop-in replacement for Windows.

Microsoft and Asus' co-developed ROG Xbox Ally is trying to offer PC gamers a more comprehensive compatibility solution that also preserves a SteamOS-like handheld UI by putting a new Xbox-branded user interface on top of traditional Windows. And while this interface will roll out to the ROG Xbox Ally first, Microsoft told The Verge that the interface would come to other Ally handhelds next and that something "similar" would be "rolling out to other Windows handhelds starting next year."

Bringing a Steam Deck-style handheld-optimized user interface to Windows is something Microsoft has been experimenting with internally since at least 2022, when employees at an internal hackathon identified most of Windows' handheld deficiencies in a slide deck about a proposed "Windows Handheld Mode."

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Β© Microsoft/Twitter user _h0x0d_

Microsoft dives into the handheld gaming PC wars with the Asus ROG Xbox Ally

8 June 2025 at 20:52

Back in March, we outlined six features we wanted to see on what was then just a rumored Xbox-branded, Windows-powered handheld gaming device. Today, Microsoft's announcement of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally hardware line looks like it fulfills almost all of our wishes for Microsoft's biggest foray into portable gaming yet.

The Windows-11-powered Xbox Ally devices promise access to "all of the games available on Windows," including "games from Xbox, Game Pass, Battle.net, and other leading PC storefronts [read: Steam, Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Connect, etc]." But instead of having to install and boot up those games through the stock Windows interface, as you often do on handhelds like the original ROG Ally line, all these games will be available through what Microsoft is calling an "aggregated gaming library."

Microsoft promises an "integrated library" can be used to access Windows games across a variety of launchers. Credit: Microsoft
A tap of the Xbox button brings up the Game Bar for quick access to many functions and settings. Credit: Microsoft

Asus and Microsoft are stressing how that integrated experience can be used with games across multiple different Windows-based launchers, promising "access to games you can't get elsewhere." That could be seen as a subtle dig at SteamOS-powered devices like the Steam Deck, which can have significant trouble with certain titles that don't play well with Steam and/or Linux for one reason or another. Microsoft also highlights how support apps like Discord, Twitch, and downloadable game mods will also be directly available via the Xbox Ally's Windows backbone.

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