Logitech leak reveals cloud-based gaming handheld with xCloud and Steam

Some convincing leaked images may have shed light on Logitech’s handheld cloud gaming device, which is expected to release later this year. The leaked images, courtesy of Evan Blass, show a device that looks market-ready, so we’re expecting an official announcement sometime in the near future. The images have also been removed from Twitter due to copyright claims, but you can see them at The Verge.

Logitech looks to be calling its handheld device the G Gaming Handheld, at least according to its landing page for updates. There’s very little information available about the new handheld, but the leaks show that it may work with multiple cloud gaming services, which could be a major selling point. So far, Logitech is already officially working with Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now for its handheld.

Gaming on the cloud — Even though the Logitech device looks like a combination of the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch, it’s designed specifically for cloud gaming. There’s no available specs yet, but it’s likely to be less powerful than Steam or Nintendo’s handhelds if it’s meant to focus on streaming games, rather than natively running them.

We got official word about the handheld from Logitech earlier this month when it announced a partnership with Tencent Games to bring the device to market later this year. The press release was light on details, but the latest leaked images give us a far better idea of the device. The Logitech handheld has a fairly standard design, not unlike most handhelds out there now, with its two off-set joysticks, a D-pad, ABXY buttons, two bumpers and triggers on each side and a bunch of extra function buttons.

The leaked images show a home screen that looks like it’s running on Android and has icons for Chrome, YouTube, Xbox, Nvidia, and Steam. The home screen also shows Google Play, which could mean that the Logitech handheld will at least be able to handle mobile games natively.

Teaming up with Tencent — Of course, there are plenty of concerns with Logitech teaming up with Tencent to make this device. Tencent has a bit of a controversial reputation, known for having a stake in basically every major video game company while also promoting some questionable tracking software.

Either way, Logitech releasing a device purpose-built for cloud gaming is a sign the company is taking this portion of the gaming market seriously. It may be a bit of a bet at this point, considering most people can just use their smartphone and something like a Backbone attachment to run cloud gaming services for a portable option. Still, the fact that it offers all the cloud gaming services in one portable package could be exactly what people want.