Russia wants to make it’s own version of a Steam Deck

Russia has outlined plans to create a portable gaming console, with its own operating system similar to that of the Valve Steam Deck.

Since the success of the Steam Deck, just about everyone has tried their hand at making a PC gaming handheld. Handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go have all taken up the portable gaming mantle. Now it appears that even Russia wants to produce its own Steam Deck.

Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting on the “socio-economic development of the Kaliningrad region”. The meeting notes, discovered online by the Yahoo News Team, outlined nine President-approved instructions. One of which included the proposed production of “portable gaming consoles and game consoles.”

Through translation software, the instruction roughly states:

“Consider the issue of organizing the production of stationary and portable game consoles and game consoles, as well as the creation of an operating system and a cloud system for delivering games and programs to users.”

According to the meeting listing, Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Russia, is responsible for taking on-board the plans for the portable gaming device. The console is to have its own OS and cloud system, which sounds similar to that of the Steam Deck, and SteamOS.

Russian newspaper, Kommersant, reported on the news, sharing that they suspect the project would be entrusted to Russian tech giant, VK. Meanwhile, the production of the devices would likely be handled by GS Group, a South Korean conglomerate.

However, the newspaper also shared its doubts about the proposed project. According to Kommersant, the current market in Russia has “no competence to produce their own PlayStation and Xbox consoles”, and doing so from scratch could take up to 10 years.

Whether it’s Xbox boss Phil Spencer discussing a proposed Xbox handheld, or Russia’s plans to create a portable gaming console, the PC gaming handheld market could be on track to become even busier than what we’ve witnessed in the last two years.