Valve’s Steam Deck has been a huge success for the PC gaming company. As the most popular PC gaming handheld by far, the underdog machine has also refocused the team’s efforts to revitalise Linux gaming with huge improvements to Proton, but fans’ eyes are peeled for the eventual follow-up.
While Valve struggles to bring its console-like Steam Machine to market amidst a titanic rise in RAM/SSD prices due to both AI data centers and the invasion of Iran, the company is still working on its Steam Deck 2 handheld.
Right now, the Steam Machine is still without a concrete release date or price, although the Linux-based desktop was already planned to be priced “like a PC” before its delay. At the time of publication, Valve is still struggling to source RAM for the device as it also attempts to bring its standalone VR headset, the Steam Frame, to market.
Nevertheless, Steam Deck lead and Valve programmer Pierre-Loup Griffais confirmed that Valve is “hard at work” on the second iteration of the handheld. However, as the company has said in the past, they want to make sure that consumers are offered a true generational leap in quality. While some expect the next device to make use of AMD’s Strix Halo chips, Valve will also likely want to push for the device to be affordable as well.
Griffais told the outlet that they’re “not interested in getting to a point where it’s 20 or 30 or even 50% more performance at the same battery life”. While Valve “have a pretty good idea of what the next version of Steam Deck is going to be”, they team is looking for a true generational advantage that they can offer to players.
“Obviously, every step of the way, if you look at our hardware projects over the years, you can draw a straight line from the original Steam Controller and Steam Machine to Steam Deck, to everything that we’re announcing and shipping this year. And we expect Steam Deck 2 will be a lot of the same where a lot of what we’re doing here will be learnings that build up to it.”
The original Steam Deck launched back in February 2022, and the handheld has sold around 5 million units since then. While the handheld’s sales numbers are not great compared to most consoles, it’s been a huge boon for gaming on Linux, even inspiring new gaming-focused distros such as Bazzite. Valve’s Steam hardware has been a huge step forward for Linux adoption as Microsoft’s Windows 11 continues to stumble.
Additionally, the handheld is still a hardware target for many developers alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 with devs saying everyone should target Valve’s handheld. The handheld is even being used as a hardware target for Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake finale.
Nevertheless, there is no new release period for the Steam Deck 2 at the time of writing. However, with more powerful handhelds seen as “no longer sustainable” in the current market by other manufacturers, the next-gen portable may still be a few years out.
