Intel announces plans for handheld gaming platform at CES

Intel is stepping up its focus on gaming hardware with plans for a new chip and platform designed specifically for portable gaming devices. The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026, where Intel Vice President and General Manager of PC Products Daniel Rogers confirmed that the company is developing both hardware and software to support handheld gaming.

The new platform will be based on the Intel Core Series 3 processors, also known as Panther Lake, which were announced last year and are now also appearing in several PCs. According to IGN, a dedicated chip optimised for handheld gaming devices will form part of the platform.

Panther Lake and Intel's 18A process

Panther Lake is an important development for Intel since it is their first chip-based processor that has been developed using an 18A process, which was under production in 2025. According to Intel, this technology will improve the efficiency and performance that are paramount in gaming laptops that are portable in nature.

Intel has a rich history of involvement with gaming and has been making GPUs for gaming PCs since the 1990s. Intel re-entered the field of gaming in 2022 with the launch of Arc GPUs.

Breaking into the handheld game space will be tough. The market at the moment is led by AMD, whose chips are behind products like the Steam Deck and a slew of other portable gaming PCs. At CES 2026, AMD announced its Ryzen 7 9850X3D processor, alongside new ray tracing and graphics technologies aimed at gamers.