Valve had an enormous day in the present day with the announcement of its second VR headset, the Valve Deckard, in addition to a model new Steam Machine and new Steam controller. What was conspicuously absent from in the present day’s information blitz was any point out of a Steam Deck successor, regardless of Steam Deck 2 rumors having been floated round for months. It seems that is very a lot by design, as Valve wants extra time to ensure there’s sufficient of a efficiency leap to justify a complete new handheld.
“Clearly the Steam Deck’s not our focus in the present day, however the identical issues we have stated previously the place we’re actually to work on what’s subsequent for Steam Deck,” Valve software program engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais advised IGN. “The factor we’re ensuring of is that it is a worthwhile sufficient efficiency improve to make sense as a standalone product.”
With the large child on the block within the gaming handheld area being the ROG Xbox Ally X, which fairly handily beats out any present model of the Steam Deck when it comes to efficiency, it is smart for Valve to be planning a considerably extra highly effective handheld. What naturally worries me as somebody with payments to pay is the Steam Deck 2’s value. Xbox already opened the door to $1000 handhelds, so I am hoping Valve not less than has mercy on us and introduces lower-priced variants along with the flagship handheld.
“We’re not considering getting to some extent the place it is 20 or 30 and even 50% extra efficiency on the identical battery life,” stated Griffais.
“We wish one thing just a little bit extra demarcated than that. So we have been working again from silicon developments and architectural enhancements, and I feel we’ve a reasonably good thought of what the subsequent model of Steam Deck goes to be, however proper now there is no choices in that panorama, within the SoC [System on a Chip] panorama, that we expect would actually be a next-gen efficiency Steam Deck.”
It is onerous to imagine the unique Steam Deck launched approach again in February 2022, however certainly, Valve’s handheld is nearing its fourth birthday. It is pure for people to eagerly await the primary full-blown follow-up handheld, nevertheless it appears like we’ll be ready a while for that. That stated, with Valve saying it has a good suggestion of what the successor shall be, it could be additional alongside than you’d suppose.
Listed below are the greatest gaming handhelds you’ll be able to play in 2025.
