Valve revealed a bunch of recent {hardware} this week, together with the Steam Machine that sort of seems like a Nintendo GameCube. One thing absent from the lineup was a Steam Deck 2, and the corporate has defined why no announcement has occurred.
In an IGN interview following the brand new {hardware} showcase, software program engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais stated that an up to date Steam Deck can be revealed sooner or later, however the plans the corporate has in thoughts aren’t precisely doable with the expertise accessible.
“Clearly, the Steam Deck’s not our focus at the moment, however the identical issues we have stated up to now the place we’re actually to work on what’s subsequent for Steam Deck,” Griffais defined. “The factor we’re ensuring of is that it is a worthwhile sufficient efficiency improve to make sense as a standalone product.”
In Griffais’ summation, Valve would not simply need a greater battery within the Steam Deck 2–though that might be a welcome enchancment, contemplating it was some extent of competition in GameSpot’s Steam Deck overview. As a substitute, the corporate desires one thing extra substantial, an improve that makes the brand new handheld worthy of being a Steam Deck successor. To get there, the accessible Techniques on a Chip (SoC) have to catch as much as Valve’s ambitions.
“We’re not keen on getting to some extent the place it is 20 or 30 and even 50% extra efficiency on the identical battery life,” Griffais continued. “We need one thing a little bit bit extra demarcated than that. So we have been working again from silicon developments and architectural enhancements, and I believe we’ve got a reasonably good thought of what the subsequent model of Steam Deck goes to be, however proper now there is not any choices in that panorama, within the SoC panorama, that we expect would really be a next-gen efficiency Steam Deck.”
This traces up with what Griffais has beforehand stated concerning Valve constructing a Steam Deck 2. Talking to The Verge in September 2023, Griffais defined that the corporate is ready for a “important sufficient enhance” in efficiency expertise, suggesting an upgraded Steam Deck might not arrive till 2026.
“We additionally don’t need extra efficiency to come back at a major price to energy effectivity and battery life,” Griffais stated on the time. “I don’t anticipate such a leap to be doable within the subsequent couple of years, however we’re nonetheless carefully monitoring improvements in architectures and fabrication processes to see the place issues are going there.”
Launched in February 2022, the corporate launched a revised Steam Deck in November 2023 that retained the identical efficiency as the unique mannequin however included an OLED show. This Steam Deck 2 sounds prefer it’ll be a way more highly effective system, as long as the expertise Valve hopes for involves fruition.
Whereas a Steam Deck 2 could also be a little bit methods away, the corporate’s imminent {hardware} lineup is popping out quickly. The Steam Controller, Steam Body, and Steam Machine are all delivery in early 2026, and whereas we do not know the costs simply but, {hardware} engineer Yazan Aldehayyat stated affordability is a key concern for Valve.