Tencentseems to have a PC gaming handheld all of its own, according to some recent discussion on the Steam Deck subreddit. One of the users posted a few production renders and/or mockups of the so-called “Tencent PC Console,” as well as what looks to be a patent for the device with some tentative specs referenced in the document.
Though there’s been no official confirmation of any hardware projects coming fromTencentfor some time now, it’s entirely possible that the company is already looking into producing a device to compete with Valve’s own Steam Deck. This has been one of the things that Valve had been hoping to nudge other major companies into doing, so as to establish the PC handheld market to a greater degree.
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Being one of the major investors in the Epic Games Store, Tencent may well have a marked interest and motivation in coming up with its own PC gaming handheld, now that Valve is clearing the path with the first mainstream low-priced device in this category. Asthe Epic Games Store has almost 200 million users, there’s a chance that Epic and Tencent could be looking into ways to deliverFortniteand other Epic Games Store exclusives to users that want a dedicated portable gaming device. After all,Fortnitewon’t work on the Steam Deck due to its anti-cheat software.
Curiously, the mockup of the device has a dedicated “Windows” button on the left side of the device. This could mean that - if the “PC Console” ever comes to fruition - it would likely run a version of Windows in the first place. This would, indeed, be the easiest way for Tencent and Epic Games to sidestep the problems withgettingFortniteto run on SteamOS 3.0.
With a number ofgame developers praising Steam Deck already, it does seem like it’s only a matter of time before other major gaming and gaming-adjacent companies jump into the fray. So far, the handheld PC niche has been filled up almost exclusively by small-scale productions, which caused the prices to stay high across the board. With Valve in the picture, however, and potential a company such as Tencent throwing its hat in the ring, gamers may well have much to look forward to in the future.
A small caveat to keep in mind, however, is that the design for the “PC Console” was submitted back in October 2020, which correlates somewhat with the release of OneXPlayer. This device, too, wasbacked by Tencent before its game developer acquisitions, and some Redditors have mentioned that OneX does share a few design elements with the patented “PC Console.” It very well could be that this isn’t a top-secret Tencent gaming handheld project, but a OneX prototype of some sort, but if that’s not the case, more news should be coming in soon.
