We get an interesting rumour related to Valve. It comes after the company’s boss shared a while back that they have something planned for the console market.
The information comes from Ars Technica’s tech culture editor Sam Machkovech, and it claims that Valve is already preparing to announce a “Switch-like” console. This would be related to the Steam find known as SteamPal and would be an all-in-one portable PC with gamepad controls and even a touchscreen. “In other words, it looks and functions like a Nintendo Switch (albeit without the removable Joy-Con controller functionality),” he says.
“SteamPal’s Switch-like properties will include the option to “dock”… I don’t have specific details on exactly how that connection will work or if Valve has any plans for a SteamPal dock,” Machkovech continues. Alongside this, he adds that it’s a system-on-a-chip coming from Intel or AMD, but not Nvidia, and “built with Linux as a likely target”.
“I can confirm the existence and development of the device, and I can point to Newell’s strong hints that something console-related will be announced later this year, but Valve is still in a position to shift gears (pun intended) at any time,” he concludes. “The company could delay or cancel this portable gaming PC project altogether for a number of reasons. As we saw in a massive 2020 report on the development of Half-Life: Alyx, Valve loves to create, incubate and then cancel things.”