PCs are the way forward for lounge gaming at CES 2026
Abstract created by Sensible Solutions AI
In abstract:
- PCWorld noticed a major shift in direction of PC-based lounge gaming at CES 2026, with handheld gaming PCs like Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go turning into central by docking options.
- Cloud gaming providers, significantly Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming to sensible TVs, and rumors of Microsoft’s subsequent Xbox operating Home windows are blurring conventional console boundaries.
- The lounge gaming market is transitioning from conventional consoles to versatile PC programs, with a brewing battle between Home windows and SteamOS platforms.
Whereas wandering the present ground at CES 2026, I used to be struck by the way forward for lounge gaming. What was as soon as the realm of gaming consoles appears to be turning into PC territory. Handheld gaming PCs are actually a mainstay in PC showcases alongside laptops, and many firms have third-party docks for TV gaming (à la the Nintendo Change).
Simply as Valve’s Steam Deck kicked off the age of handheld PC gaming, Valve’s forthcoming Steam Machine will most likely kick off one other battle over lounge gaming, with future Xbox {hardware} broadly anticipated to be primarily based on Home windows. In the meantime, Intel and AMD are additionally squabbling over handheld gaming {hardware}. And GeForce Now ensures that even when you don’t have a PC in your lounge, there’s a very good likelihood your sensible TV can stream PC video games from Nvidia’s cloud servers.
We know that PCs are the long run for lounge gaming. The query is whether or not Home windows or SteamOS will emerge as king.
Handheld PCs and docks all over the place
Whenever you see all the brand new {hardware} from firms like Asus and Lenovo, you’ll discover handheld gaming PCs proper alongside their gaming laptops. It’s superior. Handheld gaming PCs are all over the place now, even in demonstrations displaying off fanless cooling know-how.
However they’re additionally sneaking into the lounge. This yr, within the far corners of the Las Vegas Conference Middle present ground, I noticed fairly a number of docks supposed for machines just like the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, Asus ROG Xbox Ally, and different handhelds. They’re a sizzling product.
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
In response to Valve, 20 p.c of Steam Deck homeowners use the official docking station with their Deck, and that quantity doesn’t depend all the opposite Steam Deck homeowners who use third-party docks. I personal a Steam Deck and the official docking station, and it delivers a pleasant lounge gaming PC expertise, albeit with some quirks. Study extra about how I turned my Steam Deck right into a lounge console.
GeForce Now brings PC video games to TVs
Again at CES 2015, Razer introduced the Razer Forge: an Android-based lounge gaming console. With Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo absent from CES 2015 and never displaying off their consoles, this was the kind of machine you present in these days.
Certainly, again then, the way forward for lounge gaming appeared to look towards cellular platforms. Apple has its Apple TV {hardware}, which might set up video games from the App Retailer. With sensible TV platforms operating working programs—each the Google Chromecast and Amazon Hearth Stick run Android-derived working programs below the hood—it appeared like lounge gaming on sensible TVs would possibly hit their peak with Flappy Fowl-style hypercasual video games from cellular app shops.
However that by no means even took off. As a substitute, we’re now seeing Nvidia make large inroads with GeForce Now. Your future sensible TV gained’t have highly effective PC gaming {hardware} constructed into it—quite, it’ll connect with Nvidia’s servers and stream PC video games immediately from the cloud.
Nvidia
At CES 2026, Nvidia introduced GeForce Now to Amazon Hearth TV units. On the present ground, I walked by a wide range of sensible TVs that proudly marketed built-in GeForce Now help. With a Bluetooth controller, a sensible TV, and a quick web connection, now you can play high-end trendy 3D PC video games immediately on a TV.
I want operating PC video games regionally on my gaming PC, but when I used to be going to recreation on a sensible TV in my lounge, I’d quite play “actual” PC video games operating within the cloud than Sweet Crush Saga operating on the TV.
The Steam Machine vs. future Xbox
The one factor that also isn’t frequent is severe desktop PC {hardware} that plugs into the TV, console-style, delivering a lounge gaming expertise with extra energy.
Valve’s forthcoming Steam Machine will ship that gaming PC expertise that’s optimized for the lounge. In the meantime, rumor is that Microsoft’s subsequent Xbox can be a Home windows PC. Overlook the custom-made Xbox system and proprietary {hardware}. Microsoft already feels prefer it’s giving up on the Xbox as a console platform, with Xbox {hardware} gross sales at an all-time low. Microsoft desires the Xbox to be a cross-device gaming platform, not a console like a PlayStation or Nintendo Change.
I’m stunned no PC producer has leaped forward of Valve and Microsoft with their very own console-style machine that runs Home windows. However competitors is ramping up. There’s a brand new full-screen Xbox expertise that’s coming to all Home windows PCs, and Lenovo has delivered a full-screen gaming interface optimized for the Legion Go since 2023.
PCs are the way forward for lounge gaming
Sony’s PlayStation 5 owns the standard console market now that Microsoft not appears . And so long as Nintendo retains its video games unique, there’ll all the time be a spot for Nintendo’s personal consoles just like the Change 2.
However apart from that, the place are the alternate options? Apple has by no means been eager about gaming, so it’s no shock that the Apple TV {hardware} isn’t a very fascinating gaming platform, regardless of stronger {hardware} than the common lounge streaming field and integration with the Apple Arcade subscription service. For sensible TVs, the dream of easy cellular video games on the TV has been lifeless for years. TV producers would quite wow you with PC video games on GeForce Now than exhibit cellular video games on their 4K TVs—and for good cause.
In the meantime, docked handheld PCs are all the fad now. However I guess there are numerous desktop PCs and gaming laptops plugged immediately into TVs on the market, too. For greater than a decade, I’ve plugged gaming laptops and desktops proper into my TV and had an important expertise in the lounge. Now, everyone seems to be realizing how superior PCs are as a lounge gaming platform—and I’m excited to see the place this goes.
