During Gamescom, Xbox revealed plenty more information about its upcoming handheld, developed in close partnership with ASUS ROG. Beyond the actual release date, there’s a lot to unpack in the announcement, one of which is the introduction of the Handheld Compatibility Program. Reminiscent of the Steam Store information page that lists compatibility with Valve’s Deck.

This Xbox initiative aims to increase the number of games that will be ready to play on the device as a supported title. Working with game studios has enabled the testing, optimization, and verification of thousands of games for compatibility purposes. That way, you can look directly in your library for optimized or mostly compatible games to reduce the guesswork of a game working on the device.

This is likely another feature to make the Xbox Ally the ideal handheld, along with working on a unified system for Windows 11; this should help deliver an ecosystem designed for gaming on the go. But plenty of commentators on the video are hoping for backwards compatibility with Xbox and Xbox 360 games, making it the ultimate Xbox console.

ROG Xbox Ally compatibility levels

Xbox has confirmed that this feature will be available at launch. With two levels available, much like Valve’s ‘Verified’ and ‘Playable’ ratings for its Steam Deck handheld, here’s what you can expect from them:

• Handheld optimized – Game is ready to go, default controller inputs, intuitive text input methods, accurate icons, clear test, correct resolution in full screen. This rating means it’s essentially a boot and play option that is optimized for the device.
• Mostly compatible – The game might need some tweaking in the settings that will allow it to work better on the handheld. It can still function on the ROG Xbox Ally, it’s just not optimized out of the box.

There is also a Windows Performance Fit indicator that should show the kind of frame rate and performance of the game on the handheld. Two example badges are “Should play great” or “Should play well,” showcasing that they can range in performance levels, but cut out the questioning before you boot it up.

Plus, with Xbox continuing to work with developers to submit new and existing PC games for testing, the range of games in the program will continue to grow.

Handheld compatibility video

About the Author

Sebastian Kozlowski

With a fascination for technology and games, Seb is a tech writer with a focus on hardware, news, and deals. He is also a tester and reviewer for the site. Contact him @ [email protected]