Tencent and Logitech join forces for first handheld cloud gaming console which will face off with Valve’s Steam Deck

Tencent Holdings, the world’s largest video gaming company by revenue, has joined hands with Swiss-American computer gear provider Logitech to launch a handheld game console, which could become a rival to Valve’s Steam Deck.

The handheld console called Logitech G Cloud, developed by Tencent Games and Logitech G, will support cloud streaming from Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Nvidia GeForce NOW, the cloud gaming services provided by Microsoft and Nvidia Corp respectively, according to a press release by Logitech on Wednesday.

The new console will also enable players to stream local games from an Xbox console or Steam, download remote play apps and allow video streaming via the Google Play Store, it added.

The new device, which will help users to “play AAA games when they are away from their console or PC” according to Logitech, will likely be a direct challenger to Steam Deck, the latest handheld game console developed by Valve Corporation, which was released in February and brings games from the world’s largest PC game store to a handheld console.

The new device, which is the first such handheld console based on cloud gaming technology, opens a new chapter for the Chinese gaming giant to “further push the frontiers of gaming devices”, said Daniel Wu, general manager of Tencent Games Smart Solution Innovation Lab, in an earlier press release from Logitech in August that announced the partnership between the two companies.

Cloud gaming, which utilises data centre servers to stream video games thereby eliminating the need to download or install PC or console games, has become an increasingly popular form of video gaming in recent years.