Steam Valve portable PC

Image by Valve

This week speculations flared up once again effectually Valve's rumored portable device, with new reports suggesting a Steam handheld might non but be in development only may launch this twelvemonth. According to the latest report from Ars Technica, "multiple sources familiar with the thing accept confirmed that the hardware has been in evolution for some time." The device will allegedly employ a Linux-based Bone to run Steam games on the go.

The idea that Valve is secretly developing a portable gaming PC has come up ofttimes in the by. While Valve is nevertheless to brand an official announcement, recent events seem to be stacking convincingly in favor of the rumors. At a public appearance on May x, Valve president Gabe Newell deflected a question well-nigh Steam coming to consoles past hinting at a big announcement from the company coming "past the stop of this twelvemonth."

And so just this week, Valve introduced new hardware-related lines of code to Steam through a regular update. Steam Database operator Pavel Djundik discovered the code. Its purpose is undocumented, but it references a device or service codenamed "SteamPal," also as a "Callisto Developer Program."

The Ars Technica study asserts that Valve's portable device is indeed in evolution. Information technology volition have multiple features users will be familiar with from the Nintendo Switch handheld, including a touchscreen and the selection to "dock" to larger screens via USB.

Valve has not officially announced annihilation just yet. The report besides notably describes the "SteamPal" device as being in the paradigm stage nevertheless potentially inbound the market inside the next 7 months. In calorie-free of that, everything reported so far should be taken with a grain of table salt.