Valve has some exciting news for PC gamers: you no longer need a reservation to order a Steam Deck! When the company first began the venture of selling its handheld gaming computer, the demand was understandably huge. The ability to take your entire Steam inventory on the go on a small, but powerful device? Perfection. However, to be able to meet demand and set delivery expectations, Valve set up a reservation system. Customers placed a reservation for a Steam Deck and paid when their place in the queue came up. Looks like they anticipate being able to keep up with demand now though!
In a video embedded in a Tweet, Valve announced three things: no reservations, Steam Deck Docks are available now too, and there were lots of software updates. For anyone who has been eyeing the Steam Deck for some time, this is good news. Buy it now and they will send it. This also means that they have been able to fulfill all of their reservations so far and are able to continue to do so. Though they do make sure to add that an unexpected surge may cause reservations to come back in some places while they catch up. That’s reasonable enough.
The Steam Deck Dock is an optional addition to the Steam Deck. It costs $89.99 and acts as both a charging dock and a way to connect the Steam Deck to a monitor or TV. It’s also a way to prop the device up since it doesn’t have legs. With so many perks it may be worth the money, but Valve is also upfront that the device is not necessary. You can connect your Steam Deck to a monitor or TV via most USB-C devices. Plus, if you want to prop it up, there’s always the old-school method of using your environment, though let’s be honest, that can get frustrating.
As for the software updates, Valve added new features for scaling, resolution, and refresh rate. On-screen keyboard support for Japanese, Korean, and Chinese was added as well. Meanwhile, typing on the Steam Deck has been improved to be more responsive no matter how you type on it. The team also redesigned two Steam input power features: Virtual Menus and Mode Shifting.
Valve is taking care to meet client expectations and continues to work on the Steam Deck. They’ve even mentioned their intention to create the next generation. Greg Coomer, a Valve designer, said, “The theme, size and shape will change, and it might even become a streaming machine. Development of the Steam Deck will continue.” Barring any complications of course.
You can purchase your own Steam Deck on the official website here! Then you have a great excuse to keep buying games you don’t have time to play on Steam.