Don't expect Valve to release a next-generation Steam Deck anytime soon. It looks like the company wants to wait a few more years for component technology to advance before releasing a new model.
On Thursday, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais alluded to the timeline when CNBC asked him about the upgrade cycle for the Steam Deck. “Right now we’re kind of looking at this performance target that we have as a stable target for a couple years,” he said.
Griffais later elaborated to The Verge, saying, “It’s important to us that the Deck offers a fixed performance target for developers, and that the message to customers is simple, where every Deck can play the same games.”
“As such, changing the performance level is not something we are taking lightly, and we only want to do so when there is a significant enough increase to be had,” he added. “We also don’t want more performance to come at a significant cost to power efficiency and battery life.”
So it seems like Valve wants to offer consumers a major upgrade with the next-gen Steam Deck, closer to what console vendors currently do. That’s in contrast to smartphone companies, which release new models each year, but usually only with modest upgrades.
The downside is that gamers could end up choosing rival PC gaming handhelds over the Steam Deck, which initially launched in early 2022. This year, both Asus and Lenovo began selling their own Steam Deck-like devices, each boasting a faster AMD chip inside.
However, in his talk with CNBC, Griffais noted Valve is focused on increasing the "supply chain" and “retail” presence for the Steam Deck. So it’s possible the PC gaming handheld could pop up at third-party stores, boosting its visibility among even more consumers. The device is currently sold via the Steam store, starting at $399.
