Valve is working on bringing SteamOS to other gaming handhelds

The Steam Deck has been a huge hit among PC gamers, and it remains the top pick in its category despite some aging hardware. A big part of that success is due to SteamOS, Valve’s custom Linux-based operating system that runs games more efficiently than Windows (even when running Windows games).

So, what if you could load up SteamOS on something with a little more power, like the Asus ROG Ally?

Well, you can, technically. There are projects like HoloISO that take the SteamOS software and let you load it up on pretty much anything that can handle Linux. It’s sort of a user-run version of the vision Valve originally had for “Steam Machines” almost a decade ago: low-power PCs running SteamOS as a sort of PC-console hybrid.

But it’s not a realistic solution for most users. Instead, an official release of SteamOS — straight from Valve and tested on retail hardware — would be ideal. (To be clear, the above image of SteamOS running on the new ROG Ally X is a mockup, not a real photo.)

Fortunately, it looks like Valve is working on that. The Verge spotted a line in the latest release notes for SteamOS, stating that it was adding support for hardware keys on the ROG Ally. When asked to clarify, Valve software designer Lawrence Yang confirmed that the company is actively working on bringing official support for SteamOS to other devices:

“The note about ROG Ally keys is related to third-party device support for SteamOS. The team is continuing to work on adding support for additional handhelds on SteamOS.”

Lawrence Yang, Valve Software

It’s an intriguing notion, but it’s still a ways away from debuting a full release for any non-Valve hardware. The Steam Deck is sitting pretty at the top of the handheld PC market thanks to two factors: its low price and its super-easy-barely-an-inconvenience integration with Steam itself. That includes the celebrated Proton compatibility layer, which makes it easy to run Windows-only games on the Linux-based OS.

On the one hand, making SteamOS available to Valve’s hardware competition would be giving up a huge advantage, inevitably tipping the scales for some buyers who are willing to pay for newer processors, more RAM, or a higher-res screen than the Steam Deck. Windows 11 is kind of an awkward mess in handheld format, and it’s a low point of just about every review for Steam Deck competitors like the ROG Ally, the Lenovo Legion Go, and the MSI Claw.

On the other hand, Valve didn’t become the de facto home of PC gaming by selling Steam Decks. It’s in the business of selling games, and selling them on Steam. And the Steam Deck is probably selling at extremely low profit margins already — possibly even a console-style loss leader — specifically so that Valve can get its buyers engaged with Steam as a platform and (wait for it) sell more games.

So, getting more PC handhelds running SteamOS and putting the Steam game store front and center in them is definitely a win-win for Valve. If its software designers can bring in hundreds of thousands (or maybe even millions) of new users by releasing OS builds for other handhelds, it’s probably worth a hit to hardware sales.

And it sure doesn’t hurt that these gaming handhelds have a much harder time playing games from the Epic Games Store or the Microsoft Store when they’re loaded up with SteamOS.