The gaming handheld rumour mill has been churning. Why wouldn’t it? The Switch 2 is supposedly right around the corner, and Sony and Xbox are each working on a handheld. So handhelds are hot news at the moment. AMD’s new Ryzen Z2 was just revealed. This has led to fans speculating that a Steam Deck Z2 successor is likely in the works. Now a Valve employee has sought to clear the air.
As reported by Insider Gaming, rumours surfaced with the first seeming to emanate from VideoCardz.com. VideoCardz.com shared slides from a presentation with information that alluded to the Z2 Steam Deck. However, since those rumours surfaced Valve has sought to clear the air.
Pierre Loup Griffais from Valve took to Bluesky to clear the air. He wrote that there is no Z2 Steam Deck in the works and that the included slide was likely an error from AMD’s side. Fans don’t seem to be phased though. Many remarked that they are happy with the current generation of Steam Decks.
Valve has remarked in the past that they will not make a successor to the Steam Deck until there is a significant leap in computing. This is a good thing because when developers have a standardised platform to develop for. They usually do so with a greater understanding of the system and the games are often better optimised as a result. Just as with the Nintendo Switch.
Valve is rumoured to be working on a console and VR device. It’s entirely possible that the upgrade is not for the Steam Deck but rather another Steam device. Time will tell but in the interim, if you’d like to find out about the other Valve rumours you can do so here.
