ROG Ally's New "Certified" Program Steals Steam's Smartest Handheld Feature
A page out of Valve’s playbook.
Asus’s upcoming collaboration with Xbox just introduced an interesting, much-needed wrinkle into its soon-to-be-launched video game ecosystem. This week, both companies quietly announced that a so-called “ROG Xbox Ally Certified” program will launch alongside the beefy handhelds when they launch later this year.
Across its social media platforms, Asus revealed that Gears of War: Reloaded, the upcoming remaster of the seminal shooter and the latest Xbox exclusive to make the multiplatform jump, will be the first ROG Xbox Ally Certified game. This is the first instance of the ROG Ally ecosystem introducing an equivalent of the Steam Deck’s “Verified” program.
Back in 2023, shortly before the launch of the original ROG Ally, Asus' global director of marketing Galip Fu told PC Gamer that all games that can run on Windows 11 would run on the handheld out of the box, “without needing validation from either our team or the game publishers.”
Clearly, Asus is going back on that idea, which only makes sense. With technology steadily improving and competitors cropping up every few months, it didn’t take long for the original ROG Allies to have some room for performance improvement. Asus itself has since released more powerful successor with the ROG Ally X, and will debut the Xbox Ally line of handhelds with two distinct models with varying degrees of power.
Introducing a certified program is a no-brainer heading into the release of the two Xbox Allies. For one, the handheld will be marketed to console players. Having a clear indicator of what will and won’t work on the device, even as it ages down the line, will make the user experience all the better. Considering the driving focus of the Xbox Ally is bridging the gap between the intimidating complexities of PC hardware and the ease of console gaming, the Certified classification goes hand in hand with making it an easy ecosystem to be part of.
Asus and Microsoft did not respond to requests for details on this new program. But on the most recent episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, Microsoft’s Vice President of Xbox Gaming Devices & Ecosystem Jason Ronald echoed Fu, saying that the Xbox Ally would handle many of the publisher’s most recent releases, including Indiana Jones And The Great Circle and Doom: The Dark Ages. Ronald also name-dropped Game Pass gem Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as a game that will run great on the device. It’s worth noting that Expedition 33 has some issues running on popular competitors like the Steam Deck.
Titles like Indiana Jones And The Great Circle are among the titles Xbox and Asus are sure will run well on the new handheld.
As mentioned before, the Xbox Ally will come in two models when it launches in October. The base Xbox Ally is designed for “gaming on the go” at the slightly smaller screen resolution of 720P, according to Ronald, and includes half a terabyte of storage. The Xbox Ally X, on the other hand, is built for players who want the extra beef. The handheld will run most games at 1080P, according to Ronald, and will include a full terabyte of storage. We would assume that a game that is Ally Certified will work across both devices, but we’ll have to stay tuned and wait for more information.
It’s a pretty crowded time for gaming handhelds. The Switch 2 has dominated since its release in June, selling nearly 6 million units, according to Nintendo. Meanwhile, Valve’s Steam Deck is still selling steadily.
