New Steam Deck Competitor Teased

Yet another PC manufacturing behemoth is getting in on the Steam Deck craze.

By Ricky Frech

Since Valve released the Steam Deck in 2022, nearly every major hardware manufacturer in the PC space has dropped its version of the powerful device. After all, players obviously love the idea of taking their PC on the go in a handheld form with the Steam Deck selling a ludicrous number of consoles. Players have seen developers like Ayaneo, Lenovo, and ASUS ROG get in on the craze and now yet another massive PC company is joining them. MSI has announced that it will be debuting "a whole new breed of MSI dragon" later this year. While they only give us a look at the device's silhouette and a few close-ups, it's clear that this MSI product is a new Steam Deck competitor.

MSI Steam Deck Competitor Announcement

As mentioned, MSI doesn't come out and say it's making a device to compete with Steam Deck, but it's impossible to think it's anything else. The short teaser on Twitter shows a silhouette of a console with two RGB circles surrounding what can only be the handheld's thumbsticks. The teaser also shows off what looks like a well-ventilated console. Of course, you want good ventilation on any gaming device, but it's essential for handhelds trying to bring a PC's power into your hands. Fortunately, we don't have to wait much longer to find exactly what MSI is cooking up.

At the end of the teaser, MSI reveals that the device is going to debut at CES 2024. This year's Consumer Electronics Show takes place from January 9 to 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada. That means we'll get all the details about what MSI is building next week. It seems unlikely that the manufacturer will stealth-drop the handheld during the show, but it wouldn't be totally out of the realm of possibility. Most likely, we'll get a rundown of the new product's specs and hopefully a reveal of the price point and release date. 

Steam Deck 2 Release Date

Of course, with so many companies getting in on the handheld PC market, many are wondering when Valve might release a follow-up to its popular console. Recently, Valve dropped the Steam Deck OLED, which is a solid upgrade, but not the Steam Deck 2 some fans are waiting for. Unfortunately, when it announced the OLED, Valve made it clear that the next Deck is "still years away."

That's sad news for anyone hoping to upgrade their Steam Deck or waiting for the second generation to work out some of the system's kinks. However, the reasons are solid. Valve doesn't want to rush anything, especially when the current version is already so successful. The manufacturer would rather take extra time to give fans something truly remarkable than take a quick payday.

Thankfully, anyone waiting for an upgraded PC handheld has companies like MSI pushing the market forward. Hopefully, whatever the company announces next week will be an upgrade over the Deck, giving fans even more choices and continuing to push other developers to improve their offerings.

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