Rumor: Xbox Cancels Dedicated Handheld Because AMD Required 10 Million Minimum Order - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 06 October 2025 / 4,935 Views
There had been rumors Microsoft was working on a dedicated Xbox handheld, however, that has been cancelled according to AMD and hardware leaker KeplerL2.
The leaker claims the dedicated Xbox handheld was cancelled due to AMD requiring a minimum of 10 million units sold as a way to justify making the dedicated SoC (system on a chip).
"The handheld was cancelled because AMD wanted a commitment of 10m+ units to justify making a dedicated SoC, but with Steam Deck only selling ~5 million units and ASUS ROG/Lenovo Legion only selling 1-2 million MS didn't want to take the risk," said KeplerL2.
He added that the Xbox handheld was "cancelled quite early in development."
Microsoft has partnered with Asus to release Xbox-themed versions of the Rog Ally on October 16. The more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X is priced at $999.99 and the ROG Xbox Ally is available for $599.99.
The ROG Xbox Ally handhelds launch into a dedicated version of the Xbox PC app in full screen, powered by Windows 11.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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Wouldn't want to commit to selling any hardware, they're not in that business
10m is a lot (for any PC handled), would not be surprised if this would be true.
This was apparently going to be a dedicated Xbox handheld, like a Nintendo handheld or the PSP/Vita.
I do not think so. Microsoft has been clear (well as clear as they could be without saying it) that this handled would be able to play more than Xbox games (ie: PC). It was definitely the rumors out there not an dedicated Xbox.
And if it was a dedicated Xbox, then the numbers be even lower anyway.
I think you misunderstand - the rumor is Microsoft cancelled because AMD wanted 10 million units bought for a dedicated CHIP (SoC) development. It wouldn't matter to AMD whether it ran Xbox or PC games or both. What MS wanted was to corroborate with AMD on a fully custom SoC - and that takes 1000's of engineering man hours to do.
Microsoft COULD still release a Xbox handheld, but it would be using one of the (many) AMD Ryzen SoCs available to everyone else, not a special chip made just for them. That's all.
"Dedicated Xbox" just means it is a chip specifically for a handheld, it was still a dockable hybrid
It was obviously going to play the same library
The world has long since graduated past a Vita/3DS model
It states a dedicated Xbox handheld, as in an Xbox console. There is a good chance this was not a PC handheld like the one made by Asus. I find it funny that Microsoft even balked at 10 million, if you did not see yourself selling that amount then why even bother in the first place.
It's almost like giant mega corps don't just give stuff away for nothing...
You'd think MS Corp would understand that well going into this...
Kepler has been pretty reliable on AMD leaks from what I've seen, so this is probably true. Crazy requirement by AMD honestly, no PC handheld has moved 10m so far, not even SteamDeck in 3 and a half years on the market. PC handheld pricing just isn't where it needs to be for systems with no exclusives, that can struggle to play the latest AAA PC games even at low settings (and will fall below the minimum requirements on AAA's within 2 or 3 years of you buying said handheld). Most consumers are going to go with a closed platform handheld like Switch 2, where devs will go out of their way to optimize games to run on it. I'm shocked AMD gave such a high requirement honestly, you would think they would want to get as many dedicated hardware deals going as possible, since they are so far behind their two top competitors, Intel and Nvidia, in most other markets.
I don't think the entire PC handheld market combined has moved 10 million units so far.
I believe you are correct
This would have been an xbox handheld, not a pc one.
I don't believe there was ever any substantiated leak stating that Xbox was working on a closed ecosystem handheld. The leaks I've seen always said that Xbox's next-gen plans involve an open ecosystem rather than a closed one, using a custom Windows-based OS with access to Xbox Store and other PC storefronts like Steam and Epic Store, on both home consoles and handhelds. Supposedly they were working on their next-gen handheld on this open ecosystem, with heavily customized AMD silicon (making it the flagship device of the lineup), with OEM partners like Asus doing their own versions of the same thing using more generic AMD handheld chipsets (the current gen Xbox branded Asus ROG Ally X is basically a trial run for their next-gen OEM handheld plans, they are hoping, if it sells well, to not only bring back Asus, but to attract other OEM partners like Lenovo and MSI, to make more Xbox branded handhelds for them next gen). This leak from Kepler is that they cancelled their own personally made Xbox handheld that was due to be a part of that handheld lineup, and are only doing the OEM partner handhelds now. Kepler says that the next gen Xbox console is still in the works, with the chipset due to be taped out this quarter.
A closed platform handheld would frankly be disastrous for them, just like it was the last time Sony attempted it with Vita, it would be a nightmare to get 3rd party developers to support it with ports, and it would place undue burden on their 1st party studios, requiring them to develop heavily optimized ports for it.
I think Kepler could only confirm this specific bit of the story but surely there is not only a minimum order but also how much an APU would cost.
What probably went down was something along the lines of:
MS: "Hey AMD, I'd like to get a APUs for our next handheld. How about X Dollars per chip?"
AMD: "To go this low for a chip, you need to order 10 million."
MS: "Sadly, we're no longer that popular with the kids."
A dedicated hardware deal doesnt help if its not profitable.
I have no expertise on the chip market but I doubt amd was just trying to play hardball or be difficult. I imagine they figured out that it wasnt going to be profitable enough to devote the resources till the ten million mark.
Makes me wonder what the sales target for the Xbox ROG is as its likely going to do smaller numbers than the other listed here, especially with that price tag.
The most ridiculous rumour I've heard, nothing make sense!
They'd be hard pressed to do an Xbox handheld that performed noticeably better than Switch 2, without also being more expensive, bulkier, and sporting a host of other limitations and challenges.
And if it was a closed platform, it would not even offer the freedom of the handheld PCs.
I think Microsoft rightly assessed that it would be too hard a sell.
This might very well be true but they could just do one whitout the use of a semi custom SoC, the same as Asus and all others did.
