Game devs don't seem convinced on the Steam Deck from the GDC 2022 survey

The verification process for steam deck compatibility doesn't take into account if it's optimized for the hardware of the Steam deck at all.

It does, but 720p at 30 fps at default settings isn't a particularly high bar to clear with this hardware.

If you're developing a game, there are certain targets to meet, support to be wanted, and ROI to take into account. I'm beginning to think that in their rush to appeal to end users, Valve might have forgotten to put as much effort into appealing to developers.

Either that, or perhaps Valve's approach is not to appeal to developers, and just try have games run fine anyway. Not an entirely unresonable idea at all; the idea is basically to have existing games on a handheld rather than bringing anything new to the table from a developer perspective, and so the survey results aren't really surprising.

With Steam Machines they did try a developer-first approach and they just could not get a lot of them to bite. Proton at least means they have less dev asskissing to do.

I'd really like to see/know who those devs even are. 40% are developing for Oculus? No way this is representative.

GDC in general is not too representative of anything.
It is very much a circlejerk of the usual suspects that like to flock to these kinds of "events" - with the odd quite useful and interesting talk being held.
Not much different than any event of that kind in any industry, really.

I wouldn't put too much into "consensus" information gathered from that limited pool.


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 21 January 2022 at 1:34 pm UTC

The Steam Deck is interesting, as any developer / publisher we've seen actually receive a devkit unit has been practically universally praising the device. Seeing is truly believing then.

It's called selection bias. Only developers interested in steamdeck try to get one and so they are more likely prise it. Ones who are more likely criticize it don't want it, so they don't have one.
I expect great device, but but this survey shows that our view can be influenced by the fact that we hear only positive news.

For the Steam Deck, it leaves a potential 47% of unsure developpers that may fall into the yes camp, if the Steam Deck sells well. But who can say? I'd probably be in that 47%, even if I want it to be a success. Not bad, imo.

The Steam Deck is interesting, as any developer / publisher we've seen actually receive a devkit unit has been practically universally praising the device. Seeing is truly believing then.

It's called selection bias. Only developers interested in steamdeck try to get one and so they are more likely prise it. Ones who are more likely criticize it don't want it, so they don't have one.
I expect great device, but but this survey shows that our view can be influenced by the fact that we hear only positive news.

Thing here is those devs didn't buy any. The units simply poped up in their mailbox, courtesy of Valve Inc.

The bias here, is trying to figure out how many devs got it, and posted no evidence online!

When it comes to what platform developers are most interested in, Linux sat at 7%.

So not just interested in, but most interested in? As in, rating it above the other platforms? Really?
It's so I wonder if this either is misquoted or the question misunderstood...!

But if not, that's... pretty darn great!

The main issue with Steam Deck is the fact that developers care about sales figures. Some companies invested a lot of money to port their games to Linux or Mac. It didn't make them rich. We had Steam machines and other devices with Linux support.

The rest of the developers are just observers that remember companies like Corel, Loki, TransGaming, and their involvement in Linux.

Valve could create a console that has native games for Linux and a few exclusive titles. They decided to do it differently.

Unfortunately, Valve believes that Proton solves most problems when a game isn't available for Linux. I know that some native games for Linux aren't perfect. However, most of the issues can be sorted out by developers or even users.

I can't say the same thing about Proton or other related projects. I can admit that those are ambitious projects with incredible people. However, the expectations of users and Valve are even higher to support every game with the Proton. It sounds like a dream, and only Microsoft has the potential to do it.

Valve or any other company on this planet can't use Wine to compete with Microsoft. Wine developers will always fall behind Windows developers, and you can't change it.

Finally, I think there is a chance that many people purchase Steam Deck. Maybe they will spend enough money to show developers that Linux is a better option than Mac.

In this case, users have to show that x86-64 is more profitable to invest in than M1. Steam Deck can't compete with Android or iOS.

I saw that some companies dropped support for Linux (or Mac), and they decided to support mobile operating systems like iOS or Android.


Last edited by gbudny on 21 January 2022 at 2:36 pm UTC

Sadly i still don't think Steam Deck will be popular. I mean yeah its a neat package, but it doesn't offer anything to people who already play on consoles or mobile phones. It might only attract people who already are in the PC ecosystem and just want to dive into handheld gaming with their list of owned games or small portion of those, who want to tweak it and use it for game emulation etc.
If they somehow manage to deliver/sell 10 mil of those devices, then i can see some potential. but if its going with small batches over the next year, then i dont think it will last long. Hope im wrong though.

Also i don't really want to think about what will happen with the proton development if the Steam Deck will fail.

How many minutes I can play on Steam Deck (especially via Proton)?
Most likely it is another Valve fail.

How many minutes I can play on Steam Deck (especially via Proton)?
Most likely it is another Valve fail.

7-8 hours on games that are not super demanding

Portal 2 supposedly 4 hours

I'm guessing heavier titles like Control or God of War will be less.

How many minutes I can play on Steam Deck (especially via Proton)?
Most likely it is another Valve fail.

7-8 hours on games that are not super demanding

Portal 2 supposedly 4 hours

I'm guessing heavier titles like Control or God of War will be less.

So, not much worst than a Nintendo Switch...

For Nintendo Switch – OLED Model with a serial number that starts with “XT”, the battery life is approximately 4.5 to 9 hours.

For Nintendo Switch consoles with a serial number that starts with “XK”, the battery life is approximately 4.5 to 9 hours.

For Nintendo Switch consoles with a serial number that starts with “XA”, the battery life is approximately 2.5 to 6.5 hours.

For Nintendo Switch Lite, the battery life is approximately 3 to 7 hours.

Source

Not really a factor, imo. And demanding games looks like crap on this Nvidia Shield grade hardware.

Edit:
The only advantage I can think of, that the Nintendo Switch has over the Steam Deck, is Nintendo's IP. I nearly bought one, because I wanted a portable device, but decided not too, considering the performances of the games I'm interrested in... Then came the Steam Deck that promises to be a lot more interresting, for that use case. On top of that, I don't need to buy my games again.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 21 January 2022 at 3:05 pm UTC

The Steam Deck is interesting, as any developer / publisher we've seen actually receive a devkit unit has been practically universally praising the device. Seeing is truly believing then.

It's called selection bias. Only developers interested in steamdeck try to get one and so they are more likely prise it. Ones who are more likely criticize it don't want it, so they don't have one.
I expect great device, but but this survey shows that our view can be influenced by the fact that we hear only positive news.

Thing here is those devs didn't buy any. The units simply poped up in their mailbox, courtesy of Valve Inc.

The bias here, is trying to figure out how many devs got it, and posted no evidence online!

They still need ask Valve for one. That is somethink only devs with interest do.

It will be interesting to see how long we can play God of War on the deck, especially with higher graphics settings.

It'll be a flash back for me though as I remember playing God of War on my PSP 1000 (Japan edition) with custom firmware and pandora battery kit. (I still own it)

It'll bring back some memories that's for sure.

When it comes to what platform developers are most interested in, Linux sat at 7%.

So not just interested in, but most interested in? As in, rating it above the other platforms? Really?
It's so I wonder if this either is misquoted or the question misunderstood...!

But if not, that's... pretty darn great!

Yes, most interested in but not above all others.

The full question was "Which platform(s) most interest you as a developer right now? (Choose all that apply)" and Linux got 7% for that.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 21 January 2022 at 3:05 pm UTC

Good thing about steam deck is that It should not matter, if devs are into it or not.... kinda.

The Steam Deck is interesting, as any developer / publisher we've seen actually receive a devkit unit has been practically universally praising the device. Seeing is truly believing then.

It's called selection bias. Only developers interested in steamdeck try to get one and so they are more likely prise it. Ones who are more likely criticize it don't want it, so they don't have one.
I expect great device, but but this survey shows that our view can be influenced by the fact that we hear only positive news.

Thing here is those devs didn't buy any. The units simply poped up in their mailbox, courtesy of Valve Inc.

The bias here, is trying to figure out how many devs got it, and posted no evidence online!

They still need ask Valve for one. That is somethink only devs with interest do.

And, if you think about it logically.... That "special access" likely came with conditions, implicit or explicit. If you want further access to cool things in the future from the store that gets you most of your sales..... Well, you better play nice....

"Proton", or wine in general? Because wine will carry on just fine. DXVK will continue, but coordination of per-game fixes might suffer, and direct Steam integration could stall. Except Valve have long wanted to not be under Microsoft's direct control - and regardless of the Steam Deck, this is a way to prevent Microsoft from exerting control over stores on its platform (e.g taking a cut from every sale, which they wanted to do once before).

Basically funding a few projects is chump change for Valve, and keeps Microsoft at bay.

I meant proton and steam integration yes. wine will ofc continue. DXVK and vkd3d might also slow down to crawl, if valve isn't paying anymore. Not to mention all other linux ecosystem improvements around gaming. But i guess thats the worst case scenario and valve hopefully will still want to keep steam play around.

On GoG you can get games with no DRM.

On Steam you can get games with DRM.

On NFT platforms you get just the DRM.

On Steam you get games, some with DRM, some without DRM.

On GoG you can get games with no DRM.

On Steam you can get games with DRM.

On NFT platforms you get just the DRM.

On Steam you get games, some with DRM, some without DRM.

And it's the developer's decision, not Valve's.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 21 January 2022 at 3:33 pm UTC