Lenovo’s announcement of the Legion Go S at CES 2025 marks the debut of the first handheld officially licensed to ship with Valve’s SteamOS. The “Powered by SteamOS” branding highlights a seamless gaming experience optimized for handheld use, leveraging the same operating system as the Steam Deck.
Related: More from Lenovo Legion’s CES 2025 announcements in this article.
This development represents a significant step forward for Linux gaming. By extending SteamOS to third-party devices, Valve is fostering broader adoption of Linux as a gaming platform, supported by the Proton compatibility layer. This expansion not only strengthens SteamOS’s foothold in the handheld market but also encourages game developers to consider better compatibility with Linux-based systems, potentially growing the ecosystem further.
Valve has also announced upcoming updates to improve SteamOS compatibility with additional handhelds, including a public beta release ahead of the Legion Go S launch. This move reflects Valve’s ongoing commitment to expanding the SteamOS ecosystem while ensuring optimal performance across devices.
Official press release follows below:
With Lenovo’s announcement at CES 2025 of the Lenovo Legion Go S, we are pleased to share that their “Powered by SteamOS” model is the first handheld officially licensed to ship with Valve’s SteamOS. We built this operating system to provide a seamless user experience optimized for gaming, while retaining access to the power and flexibility of a PC. SteamOS is the same operating system we run on Steam Deck, and the team is making updates to ensure it fully supports the Lenovo Legion Go S and provides the same seamless experience customers expect.
In addition, the same work that we are doing to support the Lenovo Legion Go S will improve compatibility with other handhelds. Ahead of Legion Go S shipping, we will be shipping a beta of SteamOS which should improve the experience on other handhelds, and users can download and test this themselves. And of course we’ll continue adding support and improving the experience with future releases.
Frequently-asked questions:
What is SteamOS?
SteamOS is an operating system built by Valve. It features a seamless user experience optimized for gaming, while retaining access to the power and flexibility of a PC, and plays tens of thousands of games on Steam. SteamOS currently officially ships on Steam Deck and will soon ship with certain Legion Go S models. Valve is working on SteamOS support for more devices in the future.
What are the key benefits of SteamOS?
SteamOS is optimized for gaming and provides a console-like experience that’s meant to be used with a controller. It offers features like quick suspend / resume to get you quickly in and out of games, and offers seamless system and game updates.
What is the user experience of SteamOS?
SteamOS puts the player directly into Steam, with access to the full Steam ecosystem – your Steam Library, Steam Cloud, Steam Chat, Steam Game Recording, and more. The user interface is optimized for controller use and it’s easy to install and play Steam games. Best of all, users don’t have to worry about driver updates and hardware tweaks – all of this is handled seamlessly through built in system updates.
Can this run every game on Steam?
SteamOS is Linux based, and the vast majority of the Steam library runs on SteamOS, thanks to the Proton compatibility layer Valve ships. This allows developers to ship games for Windows without worrying about porting to Linux, and games will seamlessly work on SteamOS. When a game doesn’t run well on SteamOS, we call it out with our Verified program so customers know what will and won’t work well.
Is this the same operating system that is on Steam Deck?
Yes, it’s the same operating system that Steam Deck runs.
Is a user locked into playing only Steam games?
No, if players wish to they can go to desktop mode and install other game launchers and software if they wish.
