In case you weren’t aware, Xbox recently released new hardware… kind of. In a partnership with ASUS, the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X were born, handheld that lets players play all of their Xbox and other titles from other storefronts like Steam on the go. The new handheld console just launched recently with many crtiques and criticisms with Xbox’s new vision of going multiplatform. In a new interview with Mashable, Xbox President Sarah Bond talked about the new handheld, AI in gaming, and Xbox’s plans for next-gen.
While out of the blue, a handheld device was rumored to be in the works for a while from Xbox, then the ROG Xbox Ally was announced earlier this year. As Bond discusses, Xox getting into the handheld market is a byproduct of the evolution of video games and the recent rise of handheld devices capable of playing major AAA titles.
“Well, we’ve always believed that people want to be able to play any game they want, anywhere they want, with anyone,” Bond said. “And gaming is entertainment. You should be able to take it anywhere. You shouldn’t be constrained to a single device. You shouldn’t be locked to a single store. And this is the manifestation of it.”
Talking about the big picture and where the Ally fits in, Bond said “You know, I think we’ll see a whole range of people using it. For some folks, this will be the device they want to game on. They want to take their games with them anywhere. They’re a PC enthusiast. They want to be able to access all of their stores in one place because you can also plug it into the TV and project to the TV as well. And then there’s going to be other people we know that are console users where this is a great add-on to your console experience.”
ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X also has some Windows features integrated such as the Co-Pilot. ROG Xbox Ally users can press a button and ask the AI questions. Sarah Bond noted how the integration of Co-Pilot will make it easier for anyone to be able to jump into a game and have fun playing. “Well, we just believe that anyone should be able to jump in and play a game and we should make it easy and accessible and it should be in flow state with you.”
The idea behind the Co-Pilot is giving players their own sidekick. The Co-Pilot will know where you are in the game, what game a player is engaging with, the gamer profile and other things about the gamer’s indentity with Xbox. “And it uses all of those to give you recommendations, to give you tips, to reccommend other games for you that’s operating in context of what you want and what you most need,” Bond said.
Talking about the future and the reports regarding Xbox’s next console being a PC hybrid, Bond didn’t say much. “Well, I can tell you you’re right that the next-gen console is going to be a very premium, very high-end curated experience. You’re starting to see some of the thinking that we have in this handheld, but I don’t want to give it all away.”
Sarah Bond also talked about exclusives and how the idea of exclusivity seems to be going away. “We’re really seeing people evolve way past that. Like the biggest games in the world are available everywhere. You look at Call of Duty, you look at Minecraft, you look at Fortnite, you look at Roblox. Like that’s actually what’s really driving community in gaming. That’s where people gather. They have experiences. And the idea of locking it to one store or one device is antiquated for most people.”
“You want to be able to play with your friends anywhere regardless of what they’re on. And we’re really leaning into that with this experience because it just opens up another way for you to play. As does cloud, as does PC, as does the consoles that we all own and have in our living room.”