Handheld gaming has apparently been identified by Valve as its new order of business, even as proof of a Nintendo Switch-like gaming PC has just been spotted. The company responsible for the ill-fated Steam Machine is supposedly hard at work prepping up a device codenamed SteamPal. That term has already been discovered in some hardware-related code in the latest version of Steam.
Citing “multiple sources familiar with the matter,” Ars Technica has revealed that Valve’s handheld gaming PC will ship with gamepad controls and a touchscreen. It has also been revealed to possess a form factor mimicking the Switch console, however, its controllers don’t seem to be detachable. More importantly, just like the Nintendo machine, this device can also be docked for big-screen gaming.
Details about the alleged SteamPal are far and few at the moment, but the source has mentioned that it will work on new Intel or AMD chips. This is not a surprise given that Intel’s latest Tiger Lake chips and AMD’s Ryzen 4500U offer incredible integrated graphics along with great performance. This has even led to many Switch-like gaming PCs popping up in the market recently, like the Aya Neo.
Not too long ago, during a panel conversation in New Zealand, Gabe Newell seemed to have dropped a hint about this gaming PC. While answering a question related to Valve’s games coming to consoles, he had said, “You will get a better idea of that by the end of this year… and it won’t be the answer you expect.”
Valve’s last attempt at a gaming PC didn’t quite go well. The Steam Machine was an ambitious concept involving prebuilt gaming computers running on the Linux-based SteamOS. However, several distinct factors, including the unreadiness of SteamOS and Microsoft’s decision to offer Windows 10 for free, led to its failure.