Valve is continuing to widen SteamOS beyond its own Steam Deck console, with a new beta update bringing preliminary support to a handful of handheld gaming PCs built by other manufacturers. The release, SteamOS 3.8.25, adds what Valve describes as "initial gamepad support" for several devices and improves compatibility for others already on the list.

Intel handhelds get more attention

Among the newly supported devices is MSI's Claw 8 EX AI+, a high-end handheld built around Intel's Arc G3 processor that launched this summer. As Ars Technica reports, the machine is described as extremely expensive and extremely powerful, and its inclusion signals that Valve has not abandoned its efforts to support Intel-based hardware alongside the AMD chips that have long powered most SteamOS handhelds.

SteamOS has traditionally run best on devices using AMD's Ryzen processors, the same family found in the Steam Deck itself. Extending support to Intel's newer Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme chips, based on Intel's Panther Lake architecture, opens the door to a wider range of hardware from manufacturers competing in the fast-growing handheld PC market.

ARM devices and older models also included

The update also newly supports the controllers built into Ayaneo's Android-focused Pocket S2 and the more recently released, Windows-based Konkr Fit, according to Ars Technica's reporting. Both devices use ARM-based chips rather than the x86 processors SteamOS was originally designed around, a technical shift that could matter more in the long run than the Intel work, since it points to Valve testing its operating system on fundamentally different hardware architectures.

Valve also says the update brings "improved support" for older MSI Claw devices and handhelds in the OneXPlayer line. None of these changes amount to full, guaranteed compatibility. Features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, audio, battery management, sleep functions and graphics drivers may still need further work, a pattern consistent across Valve's incremental rollout of third-party support over the past year.

“SteamOS has long included beta support for other AMD powered handhelds, but Valve has only recently been working on offering compatibility with Intel-based handhelds like the MSI Claw line.”

Why it matters for buyers

For European shoppers weighing a handheld gaming PC, the choice between Windows and SteamOS remains a practical one rather than an ideological one. SteamOS offers a console-like interface with direct access to a Steam library and a controller-friendly design that can feel simpler on a small screen than Windows. Windows, meanwhile, still supports a far broader range of games, applications, subscription services and anti-cheat systems, and SteamOS continues to rely on the Proton compatibility layer to run many Windows-only titles, which does not always work perfectly.

This weekend's beta follows June's SteamOS 3.8 update, which had already promised improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms and called out better controller support for handhelds from GPD Win and Anbernic, among others. Taken together, the steady drip of updates suggests Valve is methodically building out a broader hardware ecosystem for SteamOS, even as it stops short of promising full support for any device beyond its own.

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