Microsoft is shaking things up: its Xbox Game Pass subscription is being restructured into three tiers — Essential, Premium, and Ultimate — with changes to benefits, libraries, and yes, pricing. If you’re an Xbox or PC gamer (or cloud gamer), this is worth paying attention to — especially if you live in South Africa, where local pricing is set for a steep hike.

What’s Changing & Why

The new three‑plan model replaces existing tiers.

• Game Pass Core becomes Essential
• Standard becomes Premium
• Ultimate remains Ultimate — but with more features (and a higher cost)

Microsoft’s goal is to give users more flexibility depending on how and where they play (console, PC, or via the cloud).

A major shift: cloud gaming is now included in all tiers — you no longer need the top-tier subscription just to stream games across devices.

Xbox is also leaning heavily into added value for Premium and Ultimate tiers: Fortnite Crew, Ubisoft+ Classics, upgraded Rewards points, and more day-one titles — especially for Ultimate subscribers.

New Features by Tier (and What You Actually Get)

The South African Price Hike — What You Need to Know

• Essential (formerly Core) jumps from R79 to R139/month — a 76% increase.
• Premium (formerly Standard) rises from R149 to R199/month — up 34%.
• PC-only plan more than doubles from R119 to R249/month — a 109% increase.
• Ultimate climbs steeply from R199 to R349/month — a 75% hike.

Cloud gaming is now accessible across all tiers — so you technically get more for your money — but whether that extra value makes up for the cost increase will depend on how you play.

Because all plans now include streaming, some users may consider downgrading if they don’t need the Ultimate perks. However, doing so means losing day-one titles, Fortnite Crew, and a bigger rewards system.

Microsoft says it will “regularly evaluate exchange rates and market conditions,” so future adjustments — up or down — remain on the table.

Microsoft is repositioning Game Pass to better fit a wide spectrum of gamers — from casuals who want quick access to a curated library, to hardcore players chasing exclusive perks, cloud convenience, and day-one titles.

But with major price hikes, particularly in South Africa, many will now have to reassess their subscriptions:

• Are you using enough features to justify the price?
• Do you need day-one access or just want a stable library?
• Is the rewards program enough to offset the monthly costs?

As always, it’s worth reviewing your usage before you renew or upgrade. The value is there — but only if you’re actually tapping into it.

The post Xbox Game Pass Is Getting a Revamp!  Here’s What You Need to Know appeared first on Tech Scene ZA.

Today, the Xbox Ally debuts across South Africa, bringing portable Xbox‑and‑PC hybrid gaming to local gamers.

• Powerful Hybrid Gaming in Your Hands– The Xbox Ally blends Windows 11, Xbox integration, Game Pass access, and full support for PC game stores — all in a sleek 7″, 120 Hz handheld.
• Available from Major South African Retailers– You can buy today from ASUS Estore, Evetech, Computer Mania, Incredible, Takealot, and Amazon. Local stock is limited, so early purchase is recommended.
• Local Pricing & Bundled Game Pass- Xbox Ally (base model, 512 GB) – R 12,999, Xbox Ally X (premium model, 1 TB / 24 GB RAM) – R 18,999

Each unit includes three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as part of the launch offer.

Johannesburg, South Africa, 16th October 2025—ASUSRepublic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the official on shelf of the 2025 Xbox Ally and Ally X.

The Xbox Ally is a handheld gaming PC co‑developed by ASUS ROG and Microsoft. It merges full Windows functionality with a streamlined Xbox interface, enabling gamers to run Xbox Game Pass games, PC libraries, and cloud streaming, all in one portable device.

For more details, visit https://bit.ly/4qikwMS and the retailer websites. Press kits, further imagery, and specifications are available on request.

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Gaming handhelds will be on show for the very first time at gamescom 2025

• Ready for launch: On-shelf availability of ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X slated for October 16, 2025  
• Optimized for handheld gaming: Xbox team has developed a new experience designed to make more games ready to play on supported handhelds
• See ROG Xbox Ally in person: Both models are on the show floor, ready to showcase the latest games
• Meet-and-Greet at the ROG booth: Actors Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno will be in person at the booth to meet with fans

COLOGNE, Germany, August 20, 2025 — ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced that ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X — featuring cutting-edge AMD Ryzen^™ Z2 Series processors — will be available on shelves on October 16, 2025. Both new gaming handhelds will be available to try out for the first time on the show floor of gamescom 2025. ROG will have a massive presence at gamescom 2025, boasting a full lineup of 2025 laptops to give gamers a taste of what next-gen hardware is capable of. Additionally, the stars of the latest ROG Travel campaign film, actors Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno of Grand Theft Auto V fame, will be at the ROG booth to meet and greet fans.

Ready for launch

On October 16, ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X will be available in Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, China (Xbox Ally X only), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.

Availability will follow for other markets where ROG Ally series products are sold today, including Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. The Xbox Ally will launch in China early next year. Additional pricing and pre-order details will follow in the coming weeks.

ROG and Xbox co-developed the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X to give gamers the freedom to play their way, anytime and anywhere.

The ROG Xbox Ally is powered by an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor featuring four Zen 2 cores with eight threads and eight AMD RDNA^™ 2 GPU cores. This offers ultra-efficient performance, paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X‑6400 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD, and all backed by a 60Wh battery for extended play.

The premium, high-performance ROG Xbox Ally X ups the ante with an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, a new eight‑core/16‑thread Zen 5 APU with 16 RDNA 3.5 GPU cores, and an integrated NPU. The ROG Xbox Ally X also features 24GB of LPDDR5X‑8000 memory, a 1TB M.2 SSD, and boasts a larger 80Wh battery for longer playtime. Click here to learn more. 

Optimized for handheld

The team at Xbox has been hard at work behind the scenes partnering with game studios to test and optimize thousands of PC titles for handheld compatibility. This new Handheld Compatibility Program ensures day-one users have the best experience possible on their ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. At launch, compatible games in the game library will sport Handheld Optimized or Mostly Compatible badges.

Handheld Optimized means that the game is ready to go — with default controller inputs, an intuitive text input method, accurate iconography, clear text legibility, and appropriate resolution in full-screen mode. Mostly Compatible means that the game may require minor in-game setting changes for an optimal experience on handheld.

ROG Xbox Ally X

The Xbox team is also bringing advanced shader delivery to the ROG Xbox Ally. This allows the Xbox app to preload a game’s shaders during download, so supported games will launch up to 10x faster, run more smoothly, and use less battery on first play. Xbox is working on adding this feature to even more games over time.

The ROG Xbox Ally X also features AMD’s cutting-edge Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor with a built-in NPU, that unlocks upcoming AI powered features starting early next year — with more to come. These features include:

• Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR): a system-level feature that uses the power of the NPU to upscale games running at lower resolutions. This delivers high-resolution visuals and smooth framerates across a wide range of games, with no additional changes required from game developers.
• Highlight reels: AI captures standout gameplay moments — like epic boss battles or victories — and generates short replay clips to share with friends or on social channels.

See ROG Xbox Ally in person

Both handhelds, along with the entire 2025 ROG lineup that includes the latest Strix, Zephyrus, and Flow laptops, will be on show at the gamescom 2025 ROG booth. The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X will be fully playable with a selection of games including Balatro, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, DOOM: The Dark Ages, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Gears of War: Reloaded, Hogwarts Legacy, Lies of P, and Roblox — featuring experiences including 99 Nights in the Forest, Grow a Garden, and Rivals.

Meet-and-greet at the ROG booth

To celebrate the upcoming launch of the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, ROG is reuniting Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno, one of gaming’s most iconic duos, for the latest installment of ROG Travel. Ned Luke reprises his role of the supervisor at ROG Travel, while Shawn Fonteno joins the cast as a new hire with strong suggestions for the ROG Xbox Ally as a ticket to send their customer on a perfect gaming getaway to Allywood, a place of dreams and infinite possibilities. Both Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno will be live at the ROG booth, giving fans the exciting opportunity to meet them in person. 

Gamescom 2025 ROG booth information

Hall 8 (North Entrance), Koelnmesse, Cologne

Booth #C-010-B-011

Thursday, August 21, 10am–8pm

Friday, August 22, 10am–8pm

Saturday, August 23, 9am–8 pm

Sunday, August 24, 9am–8pm

All times are in Central European Summer Time (CEST)

The post ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X to Hit Store Shelves October 16, 2025 appeared first on Tech Scene ZA.

Everything at Xbox starts with the player. That’s why we’ve dedicated years to reimagining how to make it easier to enjoy the games you love—wherever you are—through Xbox Play Anywhere, Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta), Remote Play, and more. Whether you’re at home or on the go, your favorite games should follow you.

ASUS shares that same commitment. Known for pushing the boundaries of handheld gaming, ASUS is similarly driven by innovation that delivers high-performance experiences that put players first.

Together, we’ve combined our strengths and technical expertise to introduce something entirely new: the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. These handhelds are built to make it easier than ever to access your favorite games—from Xbox, Battle.net, and other leading PC storefronts—all from a single device

This holiday, with ASUS, players can discover another way to play as we combine the power of Xbox with the freedom you expect from Windows. And this is only the beginning.

Meet the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X

• ROG Xbox Ally: The essential handheld at a great value for everyone from the casual player to the avid enthusiast.
• ROG Xbox Ally X: The ultimate high-performance handheld, built for the most demanding players.

Both handhelds allow players to play natively, via the cloud, or remotely with their Xbox console in another room.

Next-Level Features Designed for Play Anywhere

With the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, players can look forward to an approachable gaming experience that travels with you wherever you go, featuring several new and first-of-their kind features on both devices—from an immersive Xbox full screen experience, an aggregated gaming library with access to installed games from leading PC storefronts, and more.

We’ve optimized Windows 11 to be easy to use on the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X from the moment you power on. Game Bar makes it easy to return home, browse your library, launch or quit games, chat with friends, open apps, adjust settings, and more. Now, with the integration of ASUS’s innovative Armoury Crate, Game Bar also gives you streamlined access to advanced device and input controls. Details like the lock screen and task switcher have also been adjusted for easy navigation with a controller.

Because these handhelds run Windows, you have access to games you can’t get elsewhere, so you can enjoy the full freedom and versatility of PC gaming—download games from your favorite storefront, run apps like Discord, watch your favorite streamers on Twitch, and play with your favorite mods—all straight from the Xbox experience. The choice is yours.

Introducing the Xbox Experience for Handheld

When you power on your Xbox Ally, you’ll boot directly into the Xbox full screen experience, a new feature optimized specifically for handheld gaming. With new modifications that minimize background activity and defer non-essential tasks, more system resources are dedicated specifically to gameplay. That means more memory, higher framerates, and a fully immersive experience for players—all made possible by the versatility and freedom of Windows.

The Xbox Ally has more familiar Xbox touches, including:

• Xbox button: With a dedicated Xbox button, players have access to chat, apps, and settings through an enhanced Game Bar overlay, allowing you to quickly switch between running apps and games.
• Contoured grips: Created with player comfort in mind, and using the same design principles as Xbox Wireless Controllers, the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X feature contoured handgrips to accommodate a wider range of hand sizes.
• Accessibility features: Game Bar and the Xbox app have also been optimized for handheld use, bringing along familiar accessibility features from Xbox consoles and Windows PCs, with much more to come in future.

Easy Access to Games from Xbox, Leading PC Storefronts, and More

Locating and accessing games across multiple channels can be a challenge —navigating through various browsers, storefronts, and login credentials can sometimes make gaming feel anything but fun. But with the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, getting into the fun is easier and faster than ever.

Within the Xbox full screen experience, players will see their aggregated gaming library, giving them quick access to games from Xbox, Game Pass, Battle.net, and other leading PC storefronts. With this new feature, your Xbox library, hundreds of Game Pass titles (membership required), and all your installed games from other PC game stores are always at your fingertips.

We’re also making handheld gaming more seamless through our investment in Xbox Play Anywhere. With support for over 1,000 games, a single purchase means you can play with Xbox, including your progress and achievements, across Xbox console, PC and Xbox Ally—at no additional cost. And when you power on your Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X, your favorite games are already there, ready to play. Whether you’ve been gaming on Xbox console, Xbox on PC, or in the cloud, everything syncs effortlessly. With Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) or Remote Play, you can access your full Xbox console library and keep playing—wherever you are.

And yes…there’s still even more to come:

• We’re excited to partner with Roblox for the launch of Xbox Ally. For the first time ever, Roblox will be playable natively and optimized for gaming handhelds, enabling players to play with millions of people and discover a variety of immersive games on day one.
• We are working closely with our game developer partners on a brand-new program designed to help players easily identify which games have been optimized for handhelds, including the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. We will share more details soon. 
• Players who purchase an Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X and are new to Game Pass will also be able to get started at no additional cost, accessing hundreds of games like Balatro, Gears Tactics, Vampire Survivors and more, straight from your device.
• Players on either device will be able to tap into Gaming Copilot via Game Bar, a personalized gaming companion that helps you get to your favorite games faster, improve your skills, and connect you with your friends and communities.

Two Great Choices & A First Look at Specs

The Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are perfect for players looking to take an approachable gaming experience with you during travels— whether it’s between airports, or between the comfiest chairs in the living room.

Both handhelds run on AMD processors that deliver premium gaming performance, immersive visuals, and more.

The Xbox Ally offers great value for anyone looking to take their favorite games wherever they want to play, whether it’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Gears of War: Reloaded, Lies of P, South of Midnight, or many more. It’s powered by the AMD Ryzen™ Z2 A Processor—balancing performance and power consumption to maximize battery life without sacrificing gameplay quality—16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage.

The Xbox Ally X offers more for players looking to get the best level of performance and visual settings from their favorite games on a handheld. It features the AMD Ryzen™ AI Z2 Extreme processor—allowing us to power the latest AI features as they are introduced— double the storage to have more native games at your fingertips, and 24GB of high-speed RAM that more demanding games crave. The Xbox Ally X also features impulse triggers for more immersive play.

Here’s how the specs compare between the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X:

Pre-orders, Pricing, Accessories and More – Coming Soon

At launch this holiday, the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X will be available in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with availability to follow for other markets where ROG Ally series products are sold today.

But that’s not the only thing to look forward to. In the coming months, we’ll share even more details about the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, including pricing, compatible accessories, and pre-orders. Interested in pre-ordering? Please sign up here to be notified when pre-orders go live.

We can’t wait to share more about the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. Thank you for joining us on this journey as we continue to fulfil our vision of delivering a consistent, approachable gaming experience anywhere—and meeting more players where you want to be.

The post ROG Xbox Ally Handhelds Revealed: Experience Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Gears of War: Reloaded and More – Wherever You Go appeared first on Tech Scene ZA.

TechSceneZA will go over how to purchase Office 365 subscription and how to set it up on your device. There’s 2 ways in which you can purchase Office 365. One is buying a subscription card from any retail store and they will give you an Office 365 card with a scratcher on it that will have the product code for you to input on the office site. Another way is searching on the net Microsoft Office 365 and the subscription licenses for personal or family will come up from different online stores.

We recommend the Family subscription because the Family package comes with the ability for 6 people to use including the owner and 5 devices for each person while the Personal package gives a single person 5 devices. The Family package price varies but is around R1300 while the Personal package cost around R1000.

Once you’ve purchased a product key you can now login into Microsoft account or if you don’t have an account you can then create one. The Microsoft office apps can freely be used on the website without any subscriptions. Once you’ve sorted your logging in you can proceed to input your product key on the “Services and subscription” tab under “Redeem a code or prepaid card”. Microsoft tells you how long your subscription is valid for and when it expires. If you purchase your subscription from Microsoft they can add a recurring bill so that once the subscription ends it will automatically be renewed.

The online version of the Microsoft Office has a link that if you have a subscription will take you to the download section of your account where you can select the language of use and your correct version of Microsoft and that will download the installation software to your computer. You can then run the OfficeSetup software which will require you to log in and then start downloading and installing all of Office 365 software.

The main holder of the Office 365 can share it to 5 other people with each having 5 devices and 1TB of space to use. The main holder can invite family members by accessing the “Services and subscriptions” tab and scroll down to “Share Subscriptions”. A pop up will open and asking you to choose to share you subscriptions via Email or URL link which can be sent through SMS, Whatsapp and so on. The family member or friend can then open the link and sign into office using their own Microsoft account then download office and have access to the 1TB of OneDrive storage.

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Well, it isn’t actually the end of Microsoft Office. Its more like the first major re-brand that office has had in the past three decades. Microsoft office is going to be re-branded as Microsoft 365.

Microsoft365 is actually Microsofts response to a sort of software as a service which was set up many years ago as something the market required. It has moved away from just being online to also being able to download the applications to your devices, which you can actively work on.

On 7th November 2022 Microsoft made it public that the 2021 version of Microsoft office was the final version that was going to be released. Although they are saying the Microsoft Office 2021 is the end of office, they will be still be selling one time purchase licences for it. So it is not the end to our Microsoft apps, what is going to happen is Microsoft365 is going to have continuous changes effected to it, and not every three years you get a new version.

With the re-brand comes a change in pricing plan. With Microsoft office, you were able to purchase a licence and use it lifelong. With Microsoft 365, it is a yearly subscription to the software. It is somewhat of a good and bad thing. So every year you pay your subscription and get access to your full set of applications. As well as what gets thrown in, is a terabyte of cloud storage.

There are two types of personal subscriptions that we could purchase:

• A personal subscription, which is for a single individual. It is for one user with up to five devices. It comes with access to all applications, as well as the one terabyte of free cloud storage. This costs R999 a year.
• A family subscription, which is suited between two to six people. It is for up to six users, with five devices per user. It comes with access to all applications, as well as the one terabyte of free cloud storage for each user. This costs R1300 per year.

The family subscription works out much cheaper than the personal subscription. Realistically speaking you could buy it and share it with your friends and family, sharing the cost instead of paying R999 each.

What are the benefits of Microsoft 365?

• Obviously the first thing is the one terabyte of free cloud storage. If you have to purchase one terabyte of cloud storage by itself, it will come to much more than the price of the subscription.
• Flexibility is another advantage, with the cloud storage you can drop and download files across multiple devices.
• We are going to receive automatic updates with Microsoft 365.

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