Summary
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Valve says it’s hard at work on Steam Deck 2, building on lessons from previous hardware.
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Valve wants Steam Deck 2 to be a significant upgrade, not just minor tweaks.
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The handheld computer is probably still years away; we expect a more powerful SoC, higher refresh displays, and OLED/LCD options.
Remember when Valve first mentioned that it was working on a successor to the Steam Deck?
At this point, it was over four years ago, and the company’s focus seems to have shifted to the Steam Machine, the Steam Frame, and, most recently, the $100 Steam Controller released on May 4. But the company hasn’t forgotten about Steam Deck 2, with Valve programmer Pierre-Loup Griffais saying that Valve is “still working hard” on it in a recent interview with IGN.
“And obviously at every stage, if you look at our hardware projects over the years, you can draw a straight line from the original Steam controller and the Steam machines to the Steam Deck to everything that we’re announcing and shipping this year. And we expect Steam Deck 2 to be largely the same, where a lot of what we do here will be learning that goes along with it,” Griffais said in the interview.
When Valve boss Gabe Newell first spoke about Steam Deck 2, he made it clear that the company didn’t want to add a new screen or some minor fixes for the handheld’s successor. Instead, Valve wants Steam Deck 2 to be a “significant” step forward. A few months later, Newell reportedly said that Valve had a “pretty good idea” of what the next-gen portable would look like.
We still don’t know when Steam Deck 2 might arrive
The Steam Deck first released in February 2022
With all of this in mind, there’s no firm Windows release for the Steam Deck 2, so it’ll likely be at least a few years away, especially since Valve appears to be waiting for a chip that doesn’t exist yet. Valve’s Steam Deck first launched in February 2022 and was followed by the OLED Steam Deck in November 2023.
It is likely that the Steam Deck 2 will feature a significantly more powerful SoC (system on a chip), a higher refresh rate display (the Steam Deck OLED includes a (90 Hz) screen), LCD and OLED panel options, and subtle design changes. Given the current memory crisis, the Steam Deck 2 will be more expensive than its predecessor, which cost $400 and $650 respectively. Valve has not confirmed a release date for its console game like Steam Machine after delaying it a few months ago.
The first hour with a Windows gaming handheld is still too confusing, and that’s where the Steam Deck really shines
The Steam Deck still shows what Windows 11 gaming handhelds like the ROG Xbox Ally X get wrong.