Steam Deck 2 future addressed by Valve developers

The future of the upcoming Steam Deck 2 handheld console has been addressed by Valve developers.

Steam Deck 2 has previously been confirmed to be in the works at Valve. It will be a direct follow-up to the hugely popular Steam Deck, a portable handheld gaming device that plays games from the Steam storefront.

Speaking with IGN, Valve software developer Pierre-Loup Griffais was asked if the ongoing RAM crisis had impacted plans for the Steam Deck 2.

"Not really," Griffais responded. "We've talked before about how we want to make sure there's a very delineated performance improvement for something like a future Steam Deck and I think we're still looking at it in the same way.

"It's just a matter of looking at the current conditions and seeing how and when we can deliver something like that but from what we're working on, as far as the user experience goes and what the product that we're trying to build goes, it's very similar goals."

Valve recently raised the price of its Steam Deck devices by an eye-watering amount due to "the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges".

Steam Deck OLED 1TB previously cost $649 and jumped up by a staggering $300 to $949. The 512GB model previously cost $549 but is now $789, a $240 increase.

Steam Deck OLED is the most recent version of Valve's handheld device / Valve

Valve released the popular handheld Steam Deck console in February 2022 before the Steam Deck OLED followed that in November 2023, which is similar to the original but with a much better screen and improved features.

Speaking about how far the Steam Deck 2 is away from releasing back in November 2023, in an IGN interview designer Jay Shaw said: "I think it'll be quite a while. We don't have any kind of set date.

"I think we're going to wait for the technology to present itself in a way that we find interesting and for the team to really want to make that leap."

Hardware leaker KeplerL2 previously claimed Valve is targeting a 2028 release but the leaker more recently warned it could end up being delayed due to market conditions.

Steam Deck 2's release date is not currently known at the time of writing.

Elsewhere from Indy100:

• Valve opens Steam Frame VR headset pre-orders - and it's expensive
• Steam Machine developers reveal bleak outlook on rising hardware costs

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