Steam Deck 2 is not imminent (pic: Valve)
Valve’s Switch style portable console will get a sequel eventually, as the designer discusses how the console has changed how people use Steam.
There’s already been hints from Valve that a Steam Deck 2 is in the planning stage, but given the huge success of the existing model that’s not much of a surprise.
The question is more when not if, although the answer given by Valve is that ‘a true next gen Deck with a significant bump in horsepower wouldn’t be for a few years.’
That seems to leave open the possibility of incremental updates in the shorter term, perhaps similar to how Nintendo used to handle the DS and 3DS, but if you’re thinking of buying a Steam Deck now there seems little chance that it’s immediately going to become outdated.
Unfortunately, there’s no hint of what the sequel device might do differently, but in an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Valve’s Lawrence Yang states that the current model’s success has ‘made us even more excited to look closely at what can be improved’.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the interview is where Yang reveals how the existing Steam Deck has changed how PC owners use Steam.
According to him 42% of Steam Deck owners now use it as their primary device for using Steam, i.e. they prefer playing games on it compared to a desktop or laptop PC.
That’s reminiscent of how many that insist they’d never use the Nintendo Switch in its portable configuration actually end up doing the opposite, once they realise the convenience of it all.
That’s not the only factor in favour of the Steam Deck though, as it’s also surprisingly cheap given how powerful it is and while not all games work the community around the device is making it increasingly easy to get games working – or at least get fair warning when one doesn’t.
There’s also no longer much of a wait to buy one anymore, as you no longer need a reservation and it now rarely takes more than two weeks to get one delivered.
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Valve’s Switch style portable console will get a sequel eventually, as the designer discusses how the console has changed how people use Steam.