A year after the release of the Steam Deck, Valve is charting the future of the new gaming peripheral that gamers are snapping up.
It has now been a year since the Steam Deck hit the market. In such a short time, Valve’s device has established itself as a real alternative to mobile gaming, and even to the concept of a hybrid console like the Switch. This little take-anywhere powerhouse provides access to a large majority of the Steam library and much more. Since its release, the Steam Deck has received many updates and other improvements to take full advantage of the machine’s capabilities.
Between emulators, dualboot Windows and other features, it is now possible to customize the uses of the device. If the Steam Deck has consistently remained in the platform’s top sellers, it’s for the right reasons. Yet getting this product was not always easy. It took a long time to wait on endless waiting lists to hope to find this little gem of technology.
Now that it is possible to order the Steam Deck at any time, some wonder if we should not wait for the arrival of a new model, more efficient or lighter. Such a model has already been the source of many rumors. These kinds of improvements are common in the video game industry, but Valve doesn’t seem to be letting it go.
Forget the Steam Deck 2 (at least for now)
Our colleagues from Rock Paper Shotgun were able to speak with Valve on the occasion of the anniversary of the Steam Deck. The studio (and now manufacturer) is happy to see this meteoric success and the different ways players are using the device. “We wanted the Deck to be flexible to let you play however you want, but what the community has been able to do continues to surprise us.e” said Pierre-Loup Griffais, engineer and coder at Valve.
Machine designer Lawrence Yang also shared some startling stats. “Among people who have purchased a Steam Deck, 42% of them spend the majority of their Steam gaming time on the machine rather than their other peripherals“ he explained. The playing comfort and the various opportunities offered by the Deck therefore had no difficulty in convincing the players. If the teams hope to continue to offer new possibilities to players with the Steam Deck, however, we should not expect to discover a new model anytime soon.
The developers and engineers in charge of the machine want to bring better performance to the players. Unfortunately, there are not yet enough components that offer the current value for money of the Steam Deck in a format that is still so compact. Yang explains that a “true next-gen Steam Deck with a significant power boost won’t arrive for several years.“ It will therefore be an optimization work on the side of Valve and game developers that will make this machine last for years to come.
Players who hesitated to embark on the Steam Deck adventure can therefore do so with their eyes closed since a brand new model is no longer relevant after only one year of good and loyal service. If you’ve just bought Valve’s portable machine, we’ve prepared a selection of must-have titles for you to take anywhere.
