Some new information has surfaced according to which Valve, the Video game, and hardware studio has been secretly working on a Switch-like portable PC designed to run a large number of games on the Steam PC platform via Linux and it could launch by the end of the year.
This news has published by multiple sources who are familiar with the matter. According to the currently known information, the hardware has been in development for some time, and this week, Valve itself pointed to the device by slipping new hardware-related code into the latest version of the Steam client, which is the company’s popular PC gaming storefront and ecosystem.
SteamDB operator Pavel Djundik spotted the change in Steam’s code on Tuesday, which pointed to a new device named “SteamPal.” The name is a derivative of a previously discovered code term, “Neptune,” which began appearing in September of last year and came with a “Neptune Optimized Games” string. At the time, curious code crawlers thought this discovery referred to some type of controller.
According to sources, the console currently codenamed “SteamPal”, is an all-in-one PC with gamepad controls and a touchscreen. In other words, it looks and functions like a Nintendo Switch. It won’t be all similar to the Nintendo Switch, however, with the ‘Joy-Con’ type controller missing from Valve’s console.
Valve co-founder Gabe Newell hinted about a big announcement in a panel conversation at a New Zealand school earlier this month, with this console being the announcement. He said:
“You will get a better idea of that by the end of this year… and it won’t be the answer you expect. You’ll say, ‘Ah-ha! Now I get what he was talking about.’”
The SteamPal will go a similar route, with a system on a chip likely coming from either Intel or AMD, not Nvidia. It’s unclear whether Valve will release multiple SKUs to offer customers a choice of power level, battery life, and other specs, as other Switch-like PCs have offered over the past year.
The SteamPal is still in the prototype stage, and its features are subject to change. We will have to wait for more information regarding this console.
Would you consider purchasing a portable PC by Valve if they release it? Let us know in the comments section below.
