Valve Plans To Offer SteamOS Support To ASUS ROG Ally & Other Handhelds

ASUS's ROG Ally & other handhelds will finally be able to run on SteamOS as revealed in a new OS update posted by Valve.

It's official that Valve is now extending its SteamOS support to other handheld devices besides its own Steam Deck handhelds, particularly the ASUS ROG Ally, which is currently one of the best-selling handhelds in the market. The report comes from TheVerge, stating that Valve Designer, Lawrence Yang has confirmed that SteamOS will be available for ROG Ally handheld soon.

"The note about ROG Ally keys is related to third-party device support for SteamOS. The team is continuing to work on adding support for additional handhelds on SteamOS,"

Lawrence Yang - Valve Designer (via The Verge)

The support was hinted at in the SteamOS 3.6.9 Bega: Megafixer release notes, which stated, "Added support for extra ROG Ally keys" something that wasn't known previously. Upon asking, Valve responded, "The note about ROG Ally keys is related to third-party device support for SteamOS.

However, it seems that ROG Ally isn't the only handheld that will get the SteamOS as Valve also stated 'additional handhelds' explicitly. However, as Valve is still in progress, it could take some time before other handhelds can run on SteamOS. Also, the report does not state that ROG Ally will be shipped with SteamOS by default. Other prominent handhelds in the market include the Legion Go from Lenovo and the Claw from MSI.

Another big update is related to the Valve's commitment to converting the Steam Deck console into a dual-booting Windows handheld which will let users switch the OS according to their needs. Yang stated that they are preparing the remaining Windows drivers for the Steam Deck OLED edition but as of now, it's unclear as to when the Windows OS will be fully ready for boot on Steam Deck. Nonetheless, it's on their priority list and they are working on it.

Currently, the ASUS ROG Ally is one of the most versatile gaming handhelds due to its Windows operating system as it allows PC manufacturers to upgrade their machines without having to worry much about compatibility. Since Microsoft has validation teams for such tasks, it makes it easier for ASUS to build handhelds hassle-free. The ROG Ally comes in both the standard and the newer X variants.

Steam Deck, even though is inferior in performance compared to ROG Ally is loved by gamers since Linux-based SteamOS is straightforward and lets you get into the games without having to deal with Windows-related issues. Equipping ASUS ROG Ally with SteamOS will be a big step forward into handheld gaming where users could switch between two different OS to carry out different tasks at will.

News Source: TheVerge