Asus ROG Ally could launch sooner than you think — are pre-orders about to open?

(Image credit: Asus)

The ASUS ROG Ally is set to be the stiffest competition to date for Valve’s Steam Deck — an excellent gaming handheld that’s currently the top dog of x86 portables. Having been announced on April Fool’s Day, many presumed Asus’ handheld to be nothing more than a gag akin to the Razor Razor — it’s name is after all a homonym of “a lie.”

However, days later the ROG Ally would appear in the hands of a select number of tech influencers and be confirmed as a genuine upcoming product. Barely two weeks on from that confirmation and there’s reason to believe that Asus has another surprise up its sleeve when it comes to the ROG Ally. It may be set to hit store shelves much sooner than previously expected.

ROG Ally release date inbound

Previous murmurings about the expected release date for the ROG Ally ranged from a vague “over the next few months” to flimsy speculation pointing to October 2023. That being said, a recent tweet from the ROG Global Twitter account appears to have given more weight to rumors suggesting the Ally is set to release sooner rather than later.

The ROG Ally is set to release worldwide (and it may be sooner than you expect⏱)If you're in North America, sign up for notifications here👇https://t.co/ljc2GNN0UU#ROG #ROGALLY #playALLYourgames pic.twitter.com/G8i594xfyPApril 14, 2023

While the tweet in question doesn’t set anything in stone, it does clearly point towards a ‘sooner-than-expected’ release and drives potential North American customers toward a Best Buy holding page. Here you can sign up to be notified when the ROG Ally becomes available for pre-order.

Outlook

While the ROG Ally is expected to release worldwide, there’s currently been no word of how to get a hold of one outside of North America. Asus could potentially be focusing on the North American market first to help gauge the real-world demand for its handheld — giving it a clearer idea of how many units to manufacture in preparation for a wider release in Europe and the rest of the world.

If that’s the case, and ROG’s recent tweet is to be believed, Asus will be looking to open up pre-orders for the ROG Ally in North America very soon. So, if you want the best chance at getting your hands on the ROG Ally on release, head to the Best Buy website and sign up now to be notified when pre-orders open.

Rael Hornby, potentially influenced by far too many LucasArts titles at an early age, once thought he’d grow up to be a mighty pirate. However, after several interventions with close friends and family members, you’re now much more likely to see his name attached to the bylines of tech articles. While not maintaining a double life as an aspiring writer by day and indie game dev by night, you’ll find him sat in a corner somewhere muttering to himself about microtransactions or hunting down promising indie games on Twitter.