The handheld gaming PC market is heating up. If you want proof, look no additional than MSI, which made waves at CES by introducing the primary main design based mostly on Intel Core Ultra {hardware}. The MSI Claw is following within the footsteps of the Asus ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, however we’ve but to see if any of those firms are dedicated to the Steam Deck format past a single product. If an MSI govt is to be believed, they’re already engaged on a second — and third, and fourth — mannequin.

Speaking with IGN last week, MSI’s System Product Manager Clifford Chun expanded upon the creation of the Claw, and the corporate’s plan for its future. Chun mentioned that the corporate expects it to have a two-to-three-year lifecycle, “just like our laptops.” (I feel even avid gamers would possibly bristle on the suggestion that they want a brand new laptop computer each three years, however I digress.) The juicy half follows:

“So, this will be only the first version of our Claw. We are anticipating to come out version 2, version 3, version 4 down the road and it’s already in the pipeline.”

This is much from an ironclad dedication to extra Claw handhelds. Chun goes on to say that, regardless that they’re within the early phases of improvement already, such units shall be dependent upon CPU and built-in graphics upgrades that don’t but exist. It’s additionally value mentioning that the two-to-three-year timeline is about the place Valve is inserting the next version of the Steam Deck — the recent OLED upgrade made just a few minor modifications to the silicon, however nothing that will be thought of a real sequel.

Note that the headline of this text doesn’t say one thing alongside the strains of “The MSI Claw 2 is on the way.” If the primary mannequin is an costly flop, MSI will virtually definitely abandon this phase to the competitors — that’s simply the truth of rising markets. But the truth that the corporate is already anticipating follow-up fashions says that at the very least somebody excessive up expects the PC gaming handheld to stay round.