The Valve Steam Deck, an upcoming portable console, was originally slotted for a December 2021 release but was delayed until February 2022. Yesterday, the company provided an update for fans via a blog post on the Steam website.
In the post, Valve said, “First and foremost, we’re on track to ship Steam Deck on time. Global pandemic, supply issues, and shipping issues notwithstanding, it looks like we’ll be able to start getting these out the door by the end of February. ” This is great news for gamers who are impatiently awaiting the new consoles’ release, especially for those who have already pre-ordered the portable PC gaming machine. Steam Deck pre-orders originally opened in July 2021 and it’s been a long wait so far.
Valve promises fans that “work and testing for the Steam Deck Verified program has been underway. You’ll soon be able to see Deck Verified status for a growing set of Steam games. We’re checking four major categories: input, seamlessness, display, and system support.”
The company also revealed they have already been able to send out Steam Decks to developers saying, “t’s also important that we give developers the ability to test their games in order to get that nice green Verified check, so we’ve been sending developer kits out in quantity. We’ve been approving another wave of dev kits, and hundreds have been shipped out in the last month (and we’re continuing to approve and send out even more). Thanks for your patience devs!”
Valve’s upcoming Steam Deck is the first of its kind, aiming to place a full gaming PC into a handheld device. Similar to the Nintendo Switch, it will be playable while connected to a television or handheld, on the go. The Steam Deck will be the first console to make Steam’s entire gaming library portable. The console could create a gateway for gamers who have never taken to PC gaming to discover Steam’s massive library.
The Steam Deck will release next month, February 2022.
