With support from Xbox and PlayStation, Steam Deck is shaping up to be the next-generation of handheld console

Steam Deck is shaping up to be more than just a handheld console. With support from both ends of the console spectrum, Xbox and PlayStation, it gets ready to usher in the next generation of handheld gaming.

With the Game Boy in 1989, Nintendo ushered in a new era of gaming, one that is portable and brings fun in the palm of young gamers, a generation of handheld gaming. Over the years, handheld gaming was considered to be on par with that of the console counterpart. From the DS and 3DS to the PSP and the PS Vita, handheld gaming flourished.

However, with the advancement of technology, so came the new era of handheld gaming, smartphones. With smartphones becoming versatile and having the capability to run complicated games like Player Unknown’s Battleground (PUBG) mobile and Grand Theft Auto, it diminished the need for a dedicated handheld console.

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With the support of Xbox and PlayStation, Steam Deck is building upon the success of Nintendo Switch to usher in a new era of handheld gaming

After the failure of the WiiU, Nintendo took an interesting approach for the next generation. Instead of making powerful hardware to try and catch up with Xbox and PlayStation, Nintendo blurred the lines between handheld and home consoles to develop the Nintendo Switch.

The Nintendo Switch ushered in a new era of handheld gaming with excellent first-party titles like Zelda Breath of the Wild and third-party titles like Witcher 3 Wild Hunt available at the fingertip. However, the Switch also comes with a slew of disadvantages. One of the majors is its lack of sheer power to run all titles at a playable quality and framerate.

Fans were hopeful of a mid-generation upgrade of the console, dubbed Switch Pro. It was rumored to run games at a 4k resolution, utilizing Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling or DLSS technology, which renders games at a lower resolution and then upscales it using AI and Machine Learning. However, it all turned out to be false, as Nintendo Switch’s mid-generation refresh turned out to be a disappointing, albeit necessary, screen upgrade.

This was when Valve stepped up to become the next generation of handheld gaming. Valve’s Steam is the largest PC gaming platform and marketplace. With dirt-cheap prices during sales, every PC gamer can quickly build up a massive library over time. Now, Valve is bringing that vast library to the palm of every player.

It has PC gamers excited across the world. Steam Deck brings the existing library into the hands of games. And surprisingly, that has garnered support from both ends of the console spectrum.

A few days back, Xbox head Phil Spencer Tweeted out a photo of his Steam Deck and promised Xbox titles like Halo and Age of Empires on Steam Deck. Fans have also speculated that Steam Deck will also support Xbox Cloud Gaming similar to mobile phones and PCs.

Quite recently, Shuhei Yoshida from PlayStation tweeted a photo of him playing Horizon Zero Dawn on the Steam Deck. In recent years PlayStation has been eager to bring previous exclusive titles developed by first-party studios on PC through Steam.

From the already released Horizon Dawn and Days Gone to the upcoming God of War and Uncharted Legacy of Thieves, all of the titles were initially developed, keeping the hardware capability of the base PlayStation 4 on the mind. That means if Horizon Zero Dawn can run well on the Steam Deck, so will God of War and the other titles.

Many fans have already dubbed the Steam Deck as PSP3 or PS Vita 2, the third generation of PlayStation handheld. However, in reality, it is much more than that. The Steam Deck is the next generation of handheld gaming that unites PlayStation, Xbox, and PC titles to usher in a new era.