Last year, Valve irreversibly changed PC gaming with the launch of the Steam Deck. The portable PC platform was certainly not the first attempt of its kind, but with the experience of Valve's engineering and the tight integration with Steam, it quickly became the de facto device to recommend for a powerful and reliable gaming experience on the go. The timing couldn't have been better, too, with the Nintendo Switch only seeing an OLED upgrade the year prior and its heavily rumored specification bump reduced to another lengthy wait for a successor. As a result, the Steam Deck satiated the desire for more demanding gaming in a portable frame, so much so that we suggested it was an inflection point for the market as a whole. But it probably came as a surprise still at how quickly competitors reacted, with 2023 offering a glimpse into a future laden with compelling PC gaming handhelds, each experimenting in eye-catching ways.

With increasingly expensive components being pushed out the door by both AMD and Nvidia, it's no surprise that the market share for PC gaming had been waning over the years. The Steam Deck might not have rectified this entirely, but it's plain to see more positive sentiment around PC gaming since its launch, so much so that most releases nowadays include some nod to Steam Deck-specific settings and verification through Valve's own certification program. But the simplest way to see its effect on the industry is just how quickly it's spawned fierce competition. Asus and Lenovo have both launched their own Steam Deck competitors in 2023, competing not only in terms of performance but also, surprisingly, price, giving consumers a lot to ponder when choosing the best form for taking PC games on the go. There are other players in the game, specifically Ayaneo with its various devices, but its prices are high enough to take it mostly out of the conversation when comparing these core three. Either way, it shows a willingness for manufacturers to take a risk on an entirely new device, with the market clearly hungry for even more options to choose from.