A Lenovo PC gaming handheld running on Valve’s SteamOS may be in the works, and it looks like Valve will be joining Lenovo at CES to unveil it. This would be the first non-Valve handheld to run on the same platform as the Steam Deck. If Lenovo is indeed working on such a product, then it adds further evidence to the theory that Valve is opening up SteamOS to other manufacturers. While Steam Deck loyalists will no doubt want a Steam Deck 2 from Valve itself, the handheld market is growing at a much faster pace than it was when the Steam Deck launched.
So one could argue there is plenty of room for companies other than Valve to make alternative SteamOS handhelds. There is no official confirmation as of yet that Lenovo is looking to launch a SteamOS device. However, there are now a few key factors that point to this being a strong possibility.
The Lenovo Legion Go S is likely the SteamOS handheld
Last week Lenovo’s Legion Go S was leaked, and at first glance, it just looks like another Legion Go but in a smaller package. Having said that, there are a few things that seem to designate this as a handheld running on SteamOS and not on Windows like the original Legion Go. Firstly, the Legion Go S has what appears to be a dedicated Steam button. We missed this when the leak first dropped because the Steam icon is so small. If you zoom in, however, you can actually see it.
This icon sits next to the top left button, just to the right of the left joystick. In addition to this, The Verge reports that Valve is joining Lenovo for the unveiling of a new handheld. This event is reportedly taking place during CES but before the actual show kicks off for that week. The Verge also notes that Lenovo has said in an email that “the future of handhelds is coming to CES 2025.” So Lenovo is confirming that it has at least one handheld to show off at CES next year.
In addition to the SteamOS button, Lenovo’s CES event for this unveiling will have Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais as a special guest. Griffais co-designed the Steam Deck. So having him there for a handheld reveal that isn’t from Valve suggests he’s there to talk about the SteamOS portion of this handheld or SteamOS in general.
Microsoft will be joining the event as well
While Lenovo’s special guest is from Valve, Microsoft will also be in attendance for this event. The report states that Microsoft’s VP of Xbox Gaming Devices and Ecosystem Jason Ronald will be there. No specifics are given (obviously) on what Ronald will be there to discuss, but it seems pretty clear that it will have to do with Xbox games on this device and other handhelds. Microsoft has been focusing a lot on its new marketing campaign of how tons of different devices can be an Xbox.
This is of course by way of the Xbox Cloud Gaming feature in Xbox Game Pass. you would typically access this on a PC running on Windows. However, Microsoft has already established with the Steam Deck that there is a way to get the Game Pass app running on SteamOS so you can stream Xbox games to it. This was official support from Microsoft. So there is a good chance that Microsoft will be somewhat delving into that at this Lenovo event next month.
