HP considering gaming handheld, but not with Windows

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is interested in developing a gaming handheld. The reason the tech company hasn’t done so yet is simple: Windows isn’t the right operating system.

“If you look at Windows, I struggle with the experience myself. If I don’t like it, I don’t know how to do a product for it,” Josephine Tan, Senior Vice President and Division President of Gaming Solutions at HP, said in an interview with XDA Developers.

One of the things she hates is the fact that Windows doesn’t remember what game you played last. Another downside, according to Tan, and many gamers would agree with her, is that Windows is bad on a small screen.

Valve’s SteamOS, on the other hand, would be a perfect fit for a gaming handheld. When asked if she would be interested in developing a gaming handheld running SteamOS, she quickly replied with “Yes.”

In August 2024, Valve announced that manufacturers would be allowed to integrate SteamOS into their own hardware. That’s exactly what Lenovo did with the Lenovo Legion Go S, which was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last January.

Whether HP is going to do the same remains to be seen. According to recent reports, Microsoft is currently working on a Windows version that’s specifically designed for gaming handhelds. “If Microsoft were to put the Xbox shell on Windows, that could make a real difference,” XDA says.

“User experience is super important. That’s the number one thing we consider when we enter the market. The second thing we always ask ourselves is, how do we differentiate? I don’t want to be a system integrator and just put things together. Anybody can do that,” Tan states when asked about what operating system HP’s gaming handheld would have.

Another rumor circulating the internet is that an Xbox gaming handheld will be released later this year.

Anonymous sources told The Verge that Microsoft isn’t going to launch the handheld, but Asus might. The handheld would be part of Microsoft's larger plan to integrate Windows and Xbox.