Valve Is Expanding SteamOS Support to More Handhelds, and I Hope It Keeps Growing
Valve has added initial support for the Claw 8 EX AI+, along with some other ARM handhelds, and I hope it's just getting started.
Valve is expanding support for SteamOS to more handheld devices, including some Android handhelds. The latest update added preliminary gamepad support for the MSI Claw handheld, and initial gamepad support for the Claw 8 EX AI+, Ayaneo Pocket S2, and the Konkr Fit. These are particularly noteworthy as they are either ARM or Android-based handhelds.
Valve has been working on bringing SteamOS support to ARM, with the Steam Deck running on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The Konkr Fit and Ayaneo Pocket S2 would be the first Android handhelds to get full SteamOS support. Valve has indicated that support for other chipsets is in the works, with the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ being the most powerful handheld from a mainstream manufacturer.
While Nvidia GPUs are widely used in gaming PCs, Valve has not provided support for them yet. However, Valve has suggested that Nvidia support would come in the future. Once Nvidia support is added, there may be little reason to use Windows 11 on handhelds.
Written by urgent.news from IGN's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
