It feels like we’ve been waiting a long time for an official build of SteamOS to make its way beyond the Steam Deck. Today, the latest version of SteamOS officially supports the Lenovo Legion Go SteamOS Edition, the first third-party handheld gaming PC to run Steam right out of the box. It’s scheduled for a retail release later this month.
“Added official support for the Lenovo Legion Go S,” reads the update notes for SteamOS 3.7.8 Stable. Among a long list of bug fixes and other adjustments, Valve also lists “Improved support for other AMD powered handhelds (like the ROG Ally and original Legion Go).” That indicates, with very little room for doubt, that fully-compatible Linux-based builds for these other devices from Asus and Lenovo are on their way.
It shouldn’t be too hard. With the notable exception of the MSI Claw series, every handheld PC from a major manufacturer uses an AMD APU as its starting point… and even MSI is now on the AMD bandwagon. So building support for the smaller differences in these Ryzen-based hardware designs, while not trivial, is certainly within the power of Valve and anyone it wishes to partner with. PC gamers and reviewers have expressed their dissatisfaction with Windows in this low-powered form factor, which can be clunky at best and dreadful at worst.
Not that Microsoft is ignoring the situation. It’s apparently teaming up with Asus for a new version of its Ally hardware that has Xbox branding, indicating a more dedicated, streamlined Windows gaming handheld in the future. But that “ROG Ally 2” leak did include two devices, one of which conspicuously lacked that Xbox branding. I wonder if the second variant also runs Windows? Or is it preparing for a SteamOS variant?
That’s speculation on my part, to be clear. But if you’ve been hoping for a bit more variety in your gaming PC handhelds, it looks like it’s right around the corner. Unfortunately, it’s not going to solve the other big problem with non-Steam Deck handhelds: price. Originally pegged for a $500 MSRP, Best Buy is currently showing the cheapest Legion Go S SteamOS Edition (sigh) with a $599.99 price tag. Hooray for trade wars.