Could New Handhelds Play A Big Part In Esports?

Ever since the first days of Esports, it’s been desktop PCs that have stood as the standard of host machines. Though a few console games stood separate from this trend, the better performance and customizability of computers made them the preferred platform for players, in a pattern that has persisted now for more than 20 years.

Recent exciting developments in handhelds might cause a shakeup in this standard, however, and in a way that drives the spirit of competition even further forward. Join us here at Gamelevate as we put handheld Esports under the spotlight!

Why Have PCs Been The First Choice?

Console warrior rhetoric aside, PC as the standard for Esports ties into real advantages that other systems don’t offer. PCs have the benefit of more input options, they are better suited to high refresh rate screens, and the games on these systems can be better customized and run at higher frame rates. 

Consider an Esports console game like one in the Halo series for example. Most competitive players here will be confined to a 60 Hz monitor with high latency, they’ll be stuck with a controller, and their visuals will be essentially unchangeable.

A Counter-Strike PC player, on the other hand, will be able to aim with a more accurate keyboard and mouse, output at higher frame rates at lower latencies on dedicated PC monitors, and customize their graphics as they wish with open settings configurations. With that in mind, how could handhelds, often seen as less than consoles, stand a chance?

A New Day Dawns

For a long time, serious handhelds were the sole purview of console manufacturers. Nintendo and Sony were the standouts, making systems with many impressive titles, but few which offered serious Esports potential. In the smartphone and tablet era, however, vastly improving chip power has opened the door to a continuous influx of new options. Smartphones would set the standard, changing what we could expect from software on the go.

Outside of traditional gaming, mobile casinos set trends illustrating what mobile options could offer. These didn’t just feature thousands of titles on phones, they also changed the fundamental basis of how players could engage. The modern landscape has opened up the ability to deposit with mobile casino sites by phone bill, for example. This method extended possibilities with features simply not available in more established PC ways of playing. These new methods even included bonuses for players to extend their sessions.

In handheld gaming, it’s the new devices like the Steam Deck and the Asus Rog Ally that have broken previous boundaries in what they offer. The Ally in particular is impressive thanks to its Windows backing. Windows makes the Ally extremely flexible; the device’s power makes it more than capable of handling Esports titles at high levels of performance, and its ports mean it can be hooked into different input and output systems.

Final Verdict On Handheld Esports

In essence, new handhelds like the Ally give players a handheld means to practice and play their games at high quality on the go. Players can’t carry a desktop or console everywhere, and with an even smaller profile than a laptop, new handhelds mean mobile Esports are making strides like never before.

All of this, and the new handhelds are still in their early generations. It’s an exciting time for Esports players in the handheld space, and with competition heating up, we can’t wait to see what comes next.