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In brief: One of the Steam Deck’s primary advantages over more powerful handheld gaming PCs is its operating system, which is designed to mimic a game console interface within a Linux PC environment. Valve has long planned to bring the OS to other devices, but a recent Steam Deck software update includes the first mention of a rival handheld.
A mention in this week’s Steam Deck firmware patch notes has some observers speculating that Valve is preparing to release its well-regarded Linux build for third-party hardware. The move could significantly impact the emerging PC handheld space.
The notes for the SteamOS 3.6.9 beta mostly consist of bug fixes and support for additional external controllers. However, a line toward the end confirms that the firmware now supports “extra ROG Ally keys,” possibly referring to the buttons on Asus’s ROG Ally handheld PC.
The mention aligns with Valve’s prior comments on its plans to make SteamOS compatible with a broader range of systems. Late last year, the company told PC Gamer that it considers a general SteamOS release a high priority. The OS would first appear on other handhelds and PCs that use gamepads, then become available for installation on any PC.
Rival handhelds like the ROG Ally, MSI Claw, Lenovo Legion Go, Ayaneo, and GPD Win all use Windows, which supports more software than SteamOS. However, being designed for large screens and keyboards, Windows can feel cumbersome on small devices that only use gamepad buttons. The option to install SteamOS on numerous portable PCs might dramatically improve the user experience.
Valve’s Lawrence Yang explained that work on the Steam Deck OLED diverted resources from the project (let’s not forget Valve’s teams and employee count are not that big), and that driver optimization is the main challenge. Many games likely perform well on Steam deck because Valve can optimize SteamOS graphics drivers and shaders for a known, static hardware configuration. Bringing devices from other manufacturers into the equation would likely complicate the process.
Hobbyists have released SteamOS clones like Bazzite and HoloISO that support arbitrary hardware, but the complex process of installing them might run counter to a handheld PC’s pick-up-and-play design goals.
Furthermore, HoloISO doesn’t officially support Nvidia GPUs. Allowing OEMs like Asus to ship devices with SteamOS out of the box would likely accelerate the spread of Valve’s software.
