Valve’s handheld gaming PC could combat the Nintendo Switch

Although gaming handhelds are around since the times of the Nintendo Game Boy, the Nintendo Switch definitely kicked up interest by a notch, revealing a potentially profitable marketplace for portable devices which will run AAA titles, even in medium or low settings only. That, in turn, has created a series of devices and concept designs inspired by the Switch, except running PC hardware and PC games instead. as long as trend, it’s not surprising to listen to that Valve, best known for the Steam PC gaming platform, is getting to jump into that fray and no later than the top of this year even. 

To be fair, Valve won’t be the primary to commercialize PC handheld consoles and there was even an effort to crowdfund a Steam Machine handheld pictured above. Chinese brands like GPD are doing so for years and have iterated over a couple of designs therein span of your time. The likes of the GPD WIN 3, the AYA Neo, and therefore the ONEXPLAYER by One Netbook are just a few of the most recent entries therein rather niche market. Of course, Valve’s name could provide much-needed endorsement of that device category which, in turn, could also help boost those companies’ sales and prominence. Ars Technica points out, however, that this rumored Valve handheld PC, codenamed “SteamPal”, won’t have detachable controllers just like the Nintendo Switch, making it more just like the Switch Lite instead. it’ll even be wider than the Switch, mostly to include more and better controls.

And, of course, it’ll be running on either Intel or AMD chips, not the ARM-based NVIDIA Tegras that Nintendo uses. This wouldn’t be Valve’s first attempt at a gaming PC product of its own either, so it’s understandable that the tip is being met with cautious optimism. But while the Steam Machines tried to launch in an already saturated PC and console market, handhelds running PC games remains virtually unprecedented despite those companies. Curiously, Valve is reportedly still sticking to Linux for this device, though a partnership with Microsoft isn’t completely off the table. 

The report says that this Valve-branded gaming handheld could debut later this year at the earliest. Given Valve’s luck in making its own hardware, however, there could be some doubts whether it could pull this off, especially if the platform won’t be ready to adequately run a number of the Windows titles that PC gamers want.