Summary
Valve has provided some insight into its plans for the eventual successor to theSteam Deck. The hugely popular handheld gaming PC received a mid-cycle refresh last year in the form of theSteam Deck OLED, and it appears Valve is now fully focussed on the development of its successor.
Launched in 2022, the Steam Deck has been instrumental in kickstarting the handheld gaming PC space. Overone million units of the Steam Deck were shippedto customers within a year of release, and that number has no doubt grown since then, as have the number of handheld competitors from Asus, MSI, Lenovo, and more. Last year’s OLED revision of the Steam Deck brought forth a bevy of upgrades to freshen up the Valve system. However, fans have been wondering what’s next for the Steam Deck amid growing competition.
Back when the Steam Deck OLED was revealed, Valve mentioned that it was looking for agenerational leap in performance for a potential Steam Deck 2. However, several new handheld rivals, like the Asus ROG Ally X, MSI Claw, and Acer Nitro Blaze 7 have entered the fray since then, prompting speculation over whether the Steam Deck 2 could be fast-tracked. It seems that Valve remains committed to its original development plans for Steam Deck 2, though, as per a recentReviews.org interviewwith Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang.
Valve Eschews Yearly Hardware Revisions for the Steam Deck in Favor of a Proper Steam Deck 2 Down the Line
When asked aboutannual handheld PC refreshes like the Asus ROG Ally X, Yang disputed the strategy, stating that Valve is not interested in the “yearly cadence” because it’s “not really fair” to customers for an incrementally better product every year. Yang then reiterated the original plan for the Steam Deck 2’s development, confirming that Valve is indeed waiting for a “generational leap in compute” without any compromises to battery life. The latter focus is refreshing, as battery life is just as important as performance for a handheld gaming PC.
We really do want to wait for a generational leap in compute without sacrificing battery life before we ship the real second generation of Steam Deck, but it is something that we’re excited about, and we’re working on.
As for when this generational leap in portable chipset performance occurs is anyone’s guess, but it should happen sooner rather than later. PC hardware enthusiasts currently have their sights set onAMD’s upcoming Z2 Extreme chipset, where performance is expected to take a significant leap. Curiously, though, AMD has also implied that battery life is a big focus for the Z2 Extreme, which lines up with Valve’s ideology for the Steam Deck 2. It wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if AMD and Valve are currently working on a bespoke version of the Z2 Extreme for the Steam Deck 2, much like the Steam Deck’s custom RDNA 2-derived SoC.
Steam Deck
Valve’s long-awaited portable console is here, and it’s taking the handheld gaming market by storm. Valve partnered with AMD to create Steam Deck’s custom APU, optimized for handheld gaming. It is a Zen 2 + RDNA 2 powerhouse, delivering more than enough performance to run the latest AAA games in a very efficient power envelope.
