This major 2025 video game trend will come into focus at CES

Expect a sea of handhelds from a diverse landscape

It's clear that 2025 will be the year of handheld PC gaming.

What started as an oddity for a relatively small group of hobbyists about a decade and a half ago and found its market with the release of the Steam Deck in 2022 is hitting its second generation and stride in the coming year.

By my count, we'll likely see at least eight new handheld gaming PCs in the coming year and the success of the form factor and improvements in the technology point to many more.

The tech will certainly be one of the big topics of 2025's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

The most clear sign of that came when Lenovo sent out invites to its Future of Gaming Handhelds "cocktail reception."

The event, which kicks off on the evening of Jan. 7, will include a panel featuring Volker During, VP of Gaming at Lenovo, Frank Azor, CVP of Consumer and Gaming Marketing at AMD, Pierre-Loup Griffais, chief design architect at Valve, and Jason Ronald, VP of next generation at Microsoft Xbox.

That's a lot of big minds in one panel, each representing companies that have already impacted or plan to impact handheld gaming massively.

For instance, back in May 2023, Azor told me that AMD viewed handheld PCs as the new big category for gaming, likening their potential impact to the creation and later monstrous success of gaming laptops.

"The last time we created a new category like this in gaming, in my opinion, was about 20 years ago when we created the first gaming laptop," he said at the time," and it took years before gaming laptops sold as many units as the Steam Deck has sold up to now."

Of course, AMD will have its own space at CES, where it's expected to unveil the successor to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip, which was designed specifically for handheld gaming PCs.

Then there's Griffais, representing the company that probably had the most significant impact on the form factor in modern history: Valve and its Steam Deck.

While companies like GPD Win have been producing handheld gaming systems for years, it wasn't until the 2022 release of the Steam Deck that everyone—from AMD to OEMs to Microsoft—seemed to suddenly wake up and take the space seriously.

While there's no expectation that Valve will release a new Steam Deck in 2025, they did say they were waiting for a significant technological leap. We'll have to wait and see whether they'll view the Ryzen Z2 as that shift.

Microsoft has been teasing both the press and public with its interest in handheld gaming for what feels like years. 

Personally, I'd rather see the massive company invest its time and money in creating a Windows take on Valve's amazing Steam Big Picture mode, but all signs point to the company actually creating hardware as well—just not yet. If and when an Xbox Everywhere hits (I've decided that's what I'm calling it), I'd expect the system to be locked to Windows and lean heavily on the Xbox Play Anywhere approach to cross-platform game access.

Finally, you have During, who will most certainly be there to show off the latest version of the Lenovo Legion Go, a device that felt a bit undercooked in its first iteration.

At the time of its release, I called the original Legion Go a decadent machine marred by a poorly designed user interface.

The expectation is that among the new systems (three are in the works), at least one will feature AMD's new Z2 chip and an OLED 8.8-inch screen. And at least one will run SteamOS, fixing the issue with its user interface. The fact that Ronald will also be at the event leads me to wonder if Microsoft will be showing off its latest version of the Xbox app. 

I spoke with some of the folks about the app's drip feed of improvements back in October. It still had a long way to go, but it was clear that the company understands the importance of improving the app experience and how Windows works with handhelds.

Keep in mind all of this is coming out of a single event. 

AMD's events and a slew of other companies are also expected to showcase their take on the handheld gaming PC.

We know that MSI will be showing off its AI-infused Claw 8 at the show (the device is already available for pre-order), and Zotac recently announced it would be showing off its successor to the poorly received Zone. This time around, the device is rumored to feature an AMOLED display and improved controls and hardware.

While it's not official yet, I wouldn't be surprised to see Asus discussing what comes next after its ROG Ally X. This seems especially likely given AMD's close relationship with the OEM.

I'm hoping we'll hear and see a bit more about Acer's Nitro Blaze, which was unveiled this fall without a release date or price.

Speaking of hopes and dreams …

I'd love to hear something from Dell. The company teased us back in 2020 with its Alienware Concept UFO. Surely, they realize they need to get into this space officially now. Speaking of oddly quiet companies, what's going on with Razer? After all, they teased a sort of gaming handheld in the original Razer Edge back in 2013. By the time it hit the market, it had become purely a streaming device. I'd love to see the innovative company dive back into this space.

Of course, there's also handhelds coming from the big three gaming companies: 

We know Microsoft's is a ways off, but Nintendo's Switch successor is set to be announced by the end of March. I can't imagine they'd tie their announcement to a show, let alone CES, but one can dream.

Rumor has it that PlayStation is working on a new handheld. Last year, the company released the surprisingly successful PlayStation Portal steaming system. Could a new handheld release from the company be that far off?

If they do decide to dive back into the handheld waters, I hope they follow in the steps of the amazing PlayStation Vita, a device that was ahead of its time in many ways.

I think we're all ready for a Vita 2 and all of the wonderful games that would come along with it.

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention a handful of handhelds that likely won't be at CES. Ayaneo, OneXPlayer, and GPD Win all just released or announced or will likely announce a new system for 2025 with varying degrees of success. And I've most certainly missed some unannounced and announced systems gearing up for the new AMD chipsets and the white-hot handheld gaming PC market.

With handheld gaming becoming a huge thing, not just for console gamers but now for PC gamers as well, I feel like I'm in a good position to offer some advice to hardware manufacturers, big and small.

It's not just that I've had a love affair with handheld gaming since, well, nearly since it started back in the mid-70s. I also have a pretty sizable collection of systems (160 and growing) and have spent quite a bit of time interviewing some of the people behind some of these creations, from the designer behind the Little Professor calculator to the man behind that amazing '80s Dungeons & Dragons handheld.

Because of its form factor, a handheld asks its designers to master both the internal and external aspects. You can create a clunky-looking desktop PC, NUC, or console and still sell well if you nail the guts of the system, from the user interface to the tech. But that isn't the case with a handheld. These systems can live or die based on their design, and you must also nail the guts. 

Think of the handheld like Ginger Rogers; it has to do everything the console does but in a smaller package and a captivating, comfortable design. (OK, that was a terrible misuse of the "backward and in high heels" quote.)

• For a handheld to work it has to be something you can hold for hours. It should have the sleek, comfortable feel of the best controllers on the market. It should also look like something you want to be seen using. For the love of god, stop making black rectangles. Be creative.

• It should have the sort of battery life that lets you play it unplugged for hours. At least more than the sub-two hours most of the systems currently hit.

• It has to have a streamlined user-interface that gets you into and out of games as quickly as it lets you navigate stores. (Yes, plural.) Think suspending and quickly resuming games on the fly.

• Game optimization has to be taken into account. I don’t want to have to spend 30 minutes researching and setting up each game before I play it (or discover if I can play it) on my system.

• It should have a built in kickstand of some sort, and feature USB-C charging ports on the top and the bottom of the system. And it should come with a case or something to protect the screen. I know this is a bit nit-picky, but we’re paying a lot for these systems, it’s not too much to ask.

• They should be designed for upgrading and self-repair.

• AMOLED and (for now) Z2 chips should both be a minimum requirement.

Whatever may come in 2025, expect the most exciting systems to be dazzling, pricey, and held in your hands.

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I’m writing this on the last day of the year because I, like almost all writers, like to put things off. But before the year officially ends, I want to take a moment to thank you for taking the time to read my words, whether you found them in a newspaper, on a gaming site, a magazine, or here in my newsletter.

I do this for you, well and for me because I really love writing.

This year has been quite a challenge for everyone, so I’m extra proud of the work my company was able to accomplish.

Pad & Pixel continued its support of the Epic Games Store, overseeing the production of more than 400 stories for EGS news page.

We helped support studios big and small by sharing their work with different bits of technology from Unreal Engine to Pragma.

My work with the wonderful folks at the LEGO Group continued with Pad & Pixel creating a ton of articles surrounding LEGO Fortnite, LEGO Odyssey, and LEGO Fortnite Brick Life. I even oversaw the production of some videos for the company, which saw me flying out to Vegas during the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

And then there were all of the consultation calls, the meetings, the mock reviews. It’s been an exciting year absolutely brimming with creativity in an industry of which I continue to love being a very tiny part. As always, if you’re interested in working with me reach out. I love to talk, ask anyone. 😀

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