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Valve’s first ever handheld gaming PC went down as a huge success, so will there be a Steam Deck 2?
The Steam Deck was released in 2022 by Valve. Before its launch, there was a little scepticism around how well the device would go down – but the year since its release has spoken entirely for itself. According to Tech Spot, the Steam Deck not only sold 1m units as of October 2022, but it’s also ‘one of the most significant PC gaming moments in years.’
The Steam Deck offers a fantastic introduction to PC gaming for people who are used to handhelds, and vice versa. In fact, there’s even an ongoing debate on whether it’s a console or handheld gaming PC, though we’re not going to open that particular can of worms. It’s clear that there’s a huge wealth of passionate believers in the Steam Deck, and the market is there for a successor. In fact, the handheld market is booming at the moment, with devices such as the Razer Edge and Aya Neo Air Plus both tugging at the back of the Steam Deck’s shirt.
Steam Deck 2 rumors – is it even coming?
Recently, the Steam Deck 2 was hinted at by Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais and designer Lawrence Yang. Both were instrumental in the creation of the original Steam Deck, and so they were invited by Rock Paper Shotgun for an interview. Here’s what they said:
“[A] true next-gen Deck with a significant bump in horsepower wouldn’t be for a few years.”
Read More: PlayStation 6 release date rumors – when could we see it?
This isn’t exactly the hottest piece of news – a Steam Deck 2 was always slated to arrive at some point. Although, at least the developers aren’t pretending it won’t be a thing. We’re not sure when the Steam Deck 2, if it’s even going to be called that, will arrive, but at least we don’t have to worry about it too much for the next couple of years.
Steam Deck 2 features – what could we expect?
The Steam Deck 2 hasn’t actually been confirmed by Valve yet, so we’re only really able to make predictions for what we could see featured. Also, to be clear, the word predictions is being used loosley here, as this will be more a-kin to a wish-list.
OLED Display
This is the first thing we’d like to see with the Steam Deck 2. We already saw how drastically the Nintendo Switch was improved by an OLED display with greater color accuracy and vibrancy, and the Steam Deck would too lap up these improvements. We’d go as far to also ask for a 1080p display.
Read More: Is a Nintendo Switch 2 coming?
Improved hardware
This is almost a given, we hope. The next iteration of the Steam Deck will likely feature an even more powerful APU. However, we’re not getting our hopes up that the console will be a literal gaming PC scaled down, we’re expecting there to be some limitations, though we’re excited to see what Valve comes up with.
Better storage options
Currently, you can adjust the Steam Deck’s storage capacity, though only if you have an experienced technical background and you can find the right NVMe SSD that the console requires. That sounds alright, until you find out how impossible it is to actually track down the correct SSD.
With the Steam Deck 2 we’d like to see a much better storage solution, whatever that may be.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will Steam Deck 2 be good for online gaming?
The Steam Deck 2, if it ever releases, might not be the best device for online gaming due to the limitations of handheld networking capabilities.
