Lenovo May Reveal SteamOS Gaming Handheld at CES

As Valve appears to be ready to bring back third-party Steam machines, the next edition of CES could be quite interesting for PC gaming handheld enthusiasts. Indeed, Lenovo may be one of the first manufacturers to launch a new model running Valve’s SteamOS instead of Windows 11.

Last week, Evan Blass leaked some pictures of what could be the Legion Go S, an upcoming gaming handheld from Lenovo. Some of these pictures showed what looks like a Steam button on the left side of the screen, suggesting that the device could run SteamOS instead of Windows 11. However, another picture showing the same device in white had a different logo near that same button, so maybe a Windows version is in the cards as well.

Anyway, Lenovo seems to have confirmed that something related to Valve and gaming handhelds will happen at CES: Yesterday, the company sent email invites to journalists for a CES event where it’s planning to discuss “what lies ahead in the gaming handheld space and showcasing our latest Lenovo Legion Go innovations advanced by AMD.” As reported by The Verge, the invite mentioned the presence of Valve’s “Chief Design Architect” Pierre-Loup Griffais.

Lenovo’s CES event will also feature Jason Ronald, Microsoft VP of Xbox Gaming Devices and Ecosystem who also has a new “VP of Next Generation” title. Microsoft is very much interested in gaming handhelds, and the company is still working hard to optimize its Xbox app for PC for smaller screens. Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming also recently confirmed that the company was working on gaming handheld prototypes. However, the exec added that the first Xbox handheld was still a few years out.

While both Xbox and PlayStation are working on their own gaming handhelds, Valve has a real shot a growing the SteamOS ecosystem with the help of PC manufacturers. The company also told The Verge earlier this year that it was working to support SteamOS on the Asus ROG Ally, another popular Windows-based gaming handheld.