ASUS set the Xbox Ally price, next-gen Xbox in development.

The Xbox president confirmed who had the last word.

Perhaps one of the most frustrating things about the ROG Xbox Ally is its price. Many didn’t believe it would launch at such a high cost, especially since it’s more expensive than an Xbox Series X console. While the compact design and complexity could explain some of the markup, underneath, the ROG Xbox Ally still uses the same screen and battery setup as the Ally X.

XBOX President Sarah Bond has now addressed the debate around pricing. Despite the Xbox branding, Bond clarified that it was ASUS, not Microsoft, that determined the retail prices for both models.

In an interview with Variety, Bond said Microsoft relied on ASUS’s experience with Windows gaming handhelds when setting the $599.99 price for the base Ally and $999.99 for the higher-end Ally X. In other words, it was the manufacturer that determined the ultimate prices of the devices. Bond defended the pricing, saying that preorders for the top-tier model sold out quickly. But there are no official sales figures or supply details, and many suspect early shipments went mainly to media outlets and influencers.

Bond also addressed recent rumors about next-gen hardware being cancelled. Microsoft had to face a lot of rumors about XBOX future, but she cut these rumors short by saying:

We have our next-gen hardware in development. We’ve been looking at prototyping, designing. We have a partnership we’ve announced with AMD around it, so that is coming. What we saw here was an opportunity to innovate in a new way and to bring gamers another choice, in addition to our next-gen hardware. We are always listening to what players and creators want. When there is demand for innovation, we’re going to build it.”

There are no dates or confirmation on what to expect, but it is for sure based on AMD hardware. Hopefully they won’t let ASUS decide pricing on that too.

Source: Variety , NotebookCheck