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The Lenovo Legion Go S. (Lenovo Image)
Valve is making a notable shift with its portable gaming strategy as Lenovo debuted a new edition of its Legion Go gaming handheld that runs Valve’s custom operating system.
Valve, headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., built SteamOS to provide a gaming-focused, console-styled experience for PC gaming. This is the same Linux-based operating system that powers its Steam Deck, which means Valve is currently lending its OS to what’s ostensibly a competitor’s system.
Valve further announced via the official Steam blog that “the same work we are doing to support the Lenovo Legion Go S will improve compatibility with other handhelds.”
The Legion Go S is a slimmer, lighter edition of its 2023 model, which features up to 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a smaller 8-inch OLED screen. It also removes some of the 2023 Go’s features, like detachable controllers or the “kickstand,” to create an experience that’s much more in line with that of Valve’s Steam Deck.
The Go S is planned to release with two separate SKUs. The white Go S runs Windows 11, while the black edition runs Steam OS. The hardware is otherwise identical. No release date has been announced.
At first glance, this is a strange move for Valve. While it’s yet to really break out into the mainstream, the Deck sits at the center of a low-key platform war. Several other companies have brought portable gaming PCs to market in recent years, such as the Legion Go, ASUS’s ROG Ally, the GPD Win 4, and the Ayaneo Air.
Some of the Deck’s competitors have better performance or improved features like longer-lived batteries, but the Deck’s lower price tag and comparable horsepower keeps it in the conversation. Bringing SteamOS to rival hardware may seem counterintuitive.
It’s useful to remember here, however, that Valve controls the majority of the PC gaming market. Competitors like Epic’s Tim Sweeney have estimated that Steam generates at least 75% of modern PC gaming revenue, which is part of why Valve catches a new lawsuit every six months. Every other portable gaming PC on the market likely has Steam installed on it anyway, so there’s no reason for Valve to be precious about its operating system. It’s too central to the overall system.
Valve has also been on a quiet crusade for over a decade to break Windows’ hammerlock on PC gaming. CEO Gabe Newell has been openly critical of Microsoft and Windows since at least 2012, and many of Valve’s ventures into hardware (i.e. the late Steam Machine) have also been a deliberate attempt to chip away at Windows’ market share.
As such, bringing SteamOS to other portable systems can be seen as another step in Valve’s quiet struggle to revolutionize gaming on Linux. The Steam Deck was arguably its single most successful venture in that regard, and now it’s doubling down by bringing it to other platforms.
With Windows 10 planned to sunset in October, and Windows 11 attracting heavy fire from users for intrusive ads and mandatory AI, this might be the best opportunity that Valve has had in years. The company doesn’t hype up its Linux evangelism, but it quietly drives much of what Valve has done for the last decade.
