Sarah Bond Confirms Asus Set the ROG Ally's Price, Not Microsoft
The recent arrival of the ROG Xbox Ally, whose performance has often been praised with equally stinging barbs about its pricing, has brought a myriad of discussions. One of the clearer points mentioned by Xbox President Sarah Bond in a new interview concerned the Asus, the hardware partner, setting the final speakable price of the new handheld device.
Pricing Controversy
Gaming consoles are known to be value kings when it comes to price versus a custom PC with the same level of performance. With the pricing set at $599 for the base version and $999 for the high-end version, the ROG Xbox Ally challenges that thinking. The price was further embittered by community outrage, especially when a few leaks pointed to lower prices.
Bond said that Microsoft deferred to its partner on this. "That is all of their insight into the market, into the feature set, into what people want, to determine the ultimate prices of the devices," she added, confirming Asus's influence in the deliberation.
Strong Sales Despite High Pricing
Despite the steep cost, the more expensive ROG Ally X maintained its sell-out status throughout the pre-order stage via the Microsoft Store. Bond stated there was "overwhelming demand for the device" and "I feel really good about the value that we’re giving gamers for the price, based off the reception to the hardware."
This segment of feelings stands in contrast to the performance tests showing the standard Z2A-powered Ally slightly beating what is now a much older Steam Deck, despite being priced higher than a Series X console.
Glances into Next-Gen Xbox Hardware
During the interview, Bond also offered a short account of the next-gen console Microsoft is developing, confirming that it is still at the prototyping and design stage. She emphasized that this is a very good opportunity for innovation since we continue to partner with AMD, but did not elaborate further beyond giving speculation to an APU codenamed "Magnus."
Subdued Competent Handheld due to Controversial Pricing
ROG Xbox Ally is a capable handheld market-wise; its biggest constraint to wider success is pricing. However, the partnership set up by Xbox and Asus also marks the start of a dynasty to foster the creation of models with far lower pricing.
Source: Information derived from an interview with Variety.
