How To Setup Playnite On The ROG Ally

Playnite is an open source video game library manager with one simple goal: To provide a unified interface for all of your games.Before we install Playnite you want to make sure you have all your game launchers installed on your ROG Ally. Steam, Battle.net, Epic Games Launcher, EA, GOG, Ubisoft Connect, etc.

How To Install Playnite on the ROG Ally

• Go to https://playnite.link/ download and open the installer.
  
• Check portable, all your configuration files and game database will be stored in one folder.
  

How To Configure Playnite on the ROG Ally

• Click next and select which game launcher libraries you want to import into Playnite, you can always add more later on.
  
• Now you want to connect and authenticate your account for each launcher and select if you want to import installed games only.
  

  

  

  

• Next you will be brought to the desktop mode of Playnite where you should see your library being imported from your game launchers. Metadata including artwork should begin to automatically apply to your games as well.
  

How To Configure Xbox Game Pass in Playnite

• Click the controller on the top left and click Add-ons. Then you want to click Browse then Generic and search for Game Pass Catalog Browser. Install it and click save.
  

  

  

• Now on the left side panel you should see an Xbox logo, click it. The entire game pass catalog will be displayed here. This is an easy way of viewing all the games available in Game Pass.
  
• To add a Game Pass game to your Playnite library click the game and select Add to Playnite Library.
  
• Now you can install and play the Game Pass game from your library.
  

How to Manually Add Games

• Click the controller at the top left, click Add Game and select Scan Automatically. Then click Scan Folder and browse to the location of the game you’re trying to add.
  

Changing Artwork

• If you want to change information or artwork for a game, right click the game and select edit. Then click Download Metadata at the bottom left and click IGDB.
  

  

  

• Now select the game and the new artwork and game details.
  

  

  

Custom Themes

There are a bunch custom themes created by the community to completely transform your ROG Ally Playnite experience. There’s a whole forum dedicated to them, you can check it out here.

• To install a theme click the controller at the top left, click Add-ons, Browse and Themes Fullscreen.
  
• Hover over a theme to view screenshots of the theme. There’s a variety to choose from including ones that make your interface look like the Switch, Xbox, PS5 and the Steam Deck. Once you find the one you like, click Install and Save.
  
• Enter Fullscreen Mode, go to settings, visuals and then change the theme to the one you just installed. Restart Playnite for your changes to go in effect.
  

  

  

• When you enter Fullscreen mode again, the theme will be applied. You can edit theme settings by going into the settings.
  

  

  

Add Playnite FullScreen Mode To Armoury Crate

• Open Armoury Crate, click Add and press RB or LB to open up the file explorer. Find the location of your Playnite installation folder and select the Playnite.FullscreenApp
  
• Press Done.
• Launch the Playnite App and you will be in FullScreen mode. Here’s how mine looks.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2_PXsEV0t4

Windows Startup FullScreen Mode Settings

Playnite has settings to automatically launch in fullscreen mode when you turn on your Ally. If you want to turn your ROG Ally into a console like experience, follow the steps below.

• Inside Armoury Crate SE go to Content – System – About and turn off Run Armoury Crate SE at system startup.
  
• Open up Playnite, Click the controller on the top left and click settings. Choose the settings I have in the image below and click save. Now the next time you boot up your ROG Ally you will launch into fullscreen mode.