Report: ASUS may make Xbox-branded handheld PC

ASUS could be the first partner to make an official Xbox-branded PC handheld, sources tell The Verge's Tom Warren.

Microsoft is forging ahead with its bold new multi-platform plan for Xbox. The platform is evolving, and new reports suggest Microsoft will use the nascent handheld PC gaming market to help unify its console and Windows storefronts and UI.

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With their lower-end hardware and specifically-scaled chips, handhelds are a kind of missing link between consoles and fully-fledged gaming PCs. Microsoft wants to help innovate this space while also learning and expanding its business. Earlier reports from Windows Central said that Microsoft was teaming up with OEMs to make an official Xbox-branded handheld PC. Now sources have told The Verge that ASUS could be the first OEM partner to release such a device, which is the previously mentioned codenamed Kennan, and the handheld could come in 2025.

The software underneath is a big part of these hardware efforts. Microsoft reportedly wants to unify Windows and Xbox into one cohesive universal library--how exactly this will look remains to be seen and has some implications for cross-platform access. A more handheld-friendly Windows UI is said to be in development, one that specifically mirrors an Xbox-like experience.

Specifics remain unclear, and Microsoft has yet to announce any handheld PCs, but this isn't the first time that Microsoft has partnered with handheld PC OEMs; the Lenovo Legion Go and ROG Ally both come with 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and Microsoft also teamed up with Logitech for the G Cloud handheld.

Xbox Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has officially gone on the record to mention a handheld, confirming to Bloomberg that Microsoft was prototyping new devices, but Spencer said that this kind of hardware was a "few years out."