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Report: Valve working on portable gaming PC machine

Report: Valve working on portable gaming PC machine

PC giant Valve apparently has a new kind of games hardware in the works.

As initially spotted by SteamDB's Pavel Djundik, code in Steam has pointed towards a brand new device called "SteamPal." This is seemingly a continuation of the previously-discovered "Neptune", which was spotted in code in September 2020, alongside "Neptune Optimized Games".

ArsTechnica now reports that this hardware is at the prototype stage but seems to be heavily inspired by Nintendo's Switch machine, mostly notable the fact that it reportedly will be possible for users to plug SteamPal up to a monitor via a dock. One prototype boasts a wide screen, too, much like the Switch. The machine's operating system is apparently being built on Linux.

At the moment there aren't many further details about SteamPal, but it could well be what Valve boss and founder Gabe Newell was referring to earlier this year when he hinted at Steam games coming to console.

Valve has previously tried to make PC gaming more accessible with its ill-fated Steam Machine hardware, which were designed to bring the experience closer to that of a games console. The firm also released the Steam Link microconsole, which let users play games from their PC on a TV.

Valve has successfully launched its own VR headset, dubbed Index, which has been wildly popular.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.