Steam Deck 2 is absolutely coming, new booklet from Valve confirms

I guess we'll get Steam Deck 2 Episode 1 after that ;)

Steam Deck 1 + Steam Deck 2 -> 1+2=3 -> Half Life 3 confirmed.


Last edited by soulsource on 26 August 2022 at 8:08 am UTC

Good to see Valve taking this initiative. Never underestimate the value of localisation. About 95% of the world don't speak English as a first language, and 75% don't speak English at all.

Would be nice to see some more Linux distro websites translated as well. Hard to promote your distro to the majority of the planet if the majority of the planet can't read it.

For a quick sample, the following websites are only available in English as far as I can tell from looking at the homepage of their websites:
- https://linuxmint.com/
- https://manjaro.org/
- https://ubuntu.com/
- https://archlinux.org/
- https://www.centos.org/
- https://endeavouros.com/
- https://getsol.us/home/
- https://www.gentoo.org/

Shoutout to these websites for having numerous translations available on a visible dropdown on their homepage:
- https://getfedora.org/
- https://www.debian.org/
- https://www.opensuse.org/

My expectation is that SteamOS 3 will be released for the masses at the end of this year (november, december) possibly along with Deckard. (new VR headset) Also Steam Deck will make it to the markets in a few regions at the end of this year.

I'm feeling a little bit anxious, if there ever will be a Steam Deck 3, given Valves track record.

While it technically may be true that they are continuing to do R&D on something that may eventually become Steam Deck 2, that can be many years away. This kind of stuff takes a long time to develop, and Valve tend to take their time.

What is more likely in the near future is that they will replace the existing models with a new generation of upgraded/tweaked hardware. I am talking about stuff like a different fan, or better buttons. Not a completely different device in a different form factor.

More Open?
Maybe the Steam Launcher will become partially opensource so people can integrate other platforms and it still looks like it was done by valve by default?

For Deck2 it would be nice if we get a sim card slot and 5g compatibility. So you can truly play on the road without having to go through the hassle of creating a wifi hotspot with your cellphone.


Last edited by tpau on 26 August 2022 at 8:20 am UTC

I don't think Steam Deck 2 is any time soon, remember we're working on Valve Time here

More Open?
Maybe the Steam Launcher will become partially opensource so people can integrate other platforms and it still looks like it was done by valve by default?

For Deck2 it would be nice if we get a sim card slot and 5g compatibility. So you can truly play on the road without having to go through the hassle of creating a wifi hotspot with your cellphone.

That's one method of doing it. The other method (which I'd prefer, since a sim card would mean extra expenses) is to simply make the device work while offline properly.

Good to see Valve taking this initiative. Never underestimate the value of localisation. About 95% of the world don't speak English as a first language, and 75% don't speak English at all.

Would be nice to see some more Linux distro websites translated as well. Hard to promote your distro to the majority of the planet if the majority of the planet can't read it.

For a quick sample, the following websites are only available in English as far as I can tell from looking at the homepage of their websites:
- https://linuxmint.com/
- https://manjaro.org/
- https://ubuntu.com/
- https://archlinux.org/
- https://www.centos.org/
- https://endeavouros.com/
- https://getsol.us/home/
- https://www.gentoo.org/

Shoutout to these websites for having numerous translations available on a visible dropdown on their homepage:
- https://getfedora.org/
- https://www.debian.org/
- https://www.opensuse.org/

I think some of those do have other languages, for example arch:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Category:Languages

Try setting your browser to another language, often this can trip websites into displaying a non-english version in the case of other languages being available. Doesn't always work ofc.


Last edited by BlackBloodRum on 26 August 2022 at 8:33 am UTC

Sounds like Valve realized they'll have to keep producing the hardware themselves since there's no profit margin for anyone else - unless the prices double or triple, as seen with the recent wave of Deck-likes. I guess that's alright! :)

I don't think Steam Deck 2 is any time soon, remember we're working on Valve Time here

More Open?
Maybe the Steam Launcher will become partially opensource so people can integrate other platforms and it still looks like it was done by valve by default?

For Deck2 it would be nice if we get a sim card slot and 5g compatibility. So you can truly play on the road without having to go through the hassle of creating a wifi hotspot with your cellphone.

That's one method of doing it. The other method (which I'd prefer, since a sim card would mean extra expenses) is to simply make the device work while offline properly.

That doesn't help with multiplayer or single-player-always-online-because-we-hate-our-customers games.

And what about a Steam Controller 2?

Working on a Deck 2 means Deck 1 is successful or successful enough.

Well, I'm doing my part.

I don't think Steam Deck 2 is any time soon, remember we're working on Valve Time here

More Open?
Maybe the Steam Launcher will become partially opensource so people can integrate other platforms and it still looks like it was done by valve by default?

For Deck2 it would be nice if we get a sim card slot and 5g compatibility. So you can truly play on the road without having to go through the hassle of creating a wifi hotspot with your cellphone.

That's one method of doing it. The other method (which I'd prefer, since a sim card would mean extra expenses) is to simply make the device work while offline properly.

That doesn't help with multiplayer or single-player-always-online-because-we-hate-our-customers games.

Multiplayer on a sim card? Yikes it'd be lag city on the UK networks, where I am we have flaky 4G that often drops down to 3G or even 2G

As for those other games.. yeah just don't buy those or if you do patch them or complain to the developers

Sadly that's an artefact of gamers being happy and accepting of always-online DRM saying "it's for the best".

I don't think Steam Deck 2 is any time soon, remember we're working on Valve Time here

More Open?
Maybe the Steam Launcher will become partially opensource so people can integrate other platforms and it still looks like it was done by valve by default?

For Deck2 it would be nice if we get a sim card slot and 5g compatibility. So you can truly play on the road without having to go through the hassle of creating a wifi hotspot with your cellphone.

That's one method of doing it. The other method (which I'd prefer, since a sim card would mean extra expenses) is to simply make the device work while offline properly.

That doesn't help with multiplayer or single-player-always-online-because-we-hate-our-customers games.

Multiplayer on a sim card? Yikes it'd be lag city on the UK networks, where I am we have flaky 4G that often drops down to 3G or even 2G

As for those other games.. yeah just don't buy those or if you do patch them or complain to the developers

Sadly that's an artefact of gamers being happy and accepting of always-online DRM saying "it's for the best".

If it were only DRM one could just download a crack... Publishers got more creative than that in recent years, and started to force asynchronous multiplayer gameplay elements into single-player games...

I don't think Steam Deck 2 is any time soon, remember we're working on Valve Time here

More Open?
Maybe the Steam Launcher will become partially opensource so people can integrate other platforms and it still looks like it was done by valve by default?

For Deck2 it would be nice if we get a sim card slot and 5g compatibility. So you can truly play on the road without having to go through the hassle of creating a wifi hotspot with your cellphone.

That's one method of doing it. The other method (which I'd prefer, since a sim card would mean extra expenses) is to simply make the device work while offline properly.

That doesn't help with multiplayer or single-player-always-online-because-we-hate-our-customers games.

That's not Valve's problem though. If people don't want studios to go that route then they shouldn't buy their games.

There is a nice documentary, done by Mystic, on YT on the history of PS4 and the competition from the XBox one. M$ tried to pull a stunt like that back then. Players needed to login to keep their games playable and physical games were to be bound to the user's account.

The crowd said no and M$ reversed this decision.

The development of SteamOS and Big Picture is clearly not going according to plan.

A ton of patches after the release of Steam Deck suggests that it had to be postponed for at least another six months.

I am waiting for Valve to release SteamOS for PC - this is the next important step that will push Linux to popularity.

If it were only DRM one could just download a crack... Publishers got more creative than that in recent years, and started to force asynchronous multiplayer gameplay elements into single-player games...

Yeah.. I tend to avoid buying those ones. That's still DRM in my book as it affects your rights on how you use the product. And those games do eventually get "unofficially patched"

For example, I own all the Assassin's Creed games w/ all their DLC on Steam and I quickly got sick of UPlay forcing me to enter my password every time I press "play" in steam (It's annoying because it means opening my password manager every single time, and ubisoft confirmed it was intentional[1]).

I patched every single one of those games, even the ones with "multiplayer gameplay elements". So unlike other new owners of AC2's DLC[2], I was able to activate and use my DLC, other users can't do that legally because Ubisoft already disabled DLC activation for that game, so you're paying for a single player DLC you can't use (yes, even if you purchased it)

The other more "legal" option is to try to find the same game on GOG, often those don't require the DRM. For example mafia definitive edition:
https://www.gog.com/en/game/mafia_definitive_edition

You'll see the notice below:

The DRM-Free version of Mafia: Definitive Edition does not support signing up for a 2K account, therefore 2K account bonus content and bonus content acquired for owning other Mafia titles on GOG are not available.

Although a few games slipped through GOG's anti-drm net sadly and they seem to be getting a little sloppy on what they call "DRM".

Anyway, I'm not a fan of DRM and I've opposed it for many years, I've been a FOSS supporter for many years so it's difficult for me to accept having my rights restricted and I will fight it.

Anyway, I can't get too much into this topic because of the rules though, and I don't want to accidentally start an argument again so I'll leave it at this

[1] https://discussions.ubisoft.com/post/687966
[2] This one's actually an easy one, just a save file and a no-uplay patch

Multiplayer on a sim card? Yikes it'd be lag city on the UK networks, where I am we have flaky 4G that often drops down to 3G or even 2G

The Deck could also be used to have a larger display for browsing the web on the go where at the moment people take a tablet with them.

I don't think we can defeat this pressure to be online for a singleplayer game so it would benefit compatibility if you could just plug in a sim card and be able to start more games.

Multiplayer on a sim card? Yikes it'd be lag city on the UK networks, where I am we have flaky 4G that often drops down to 3G or even 2G

The Deck could also be used to have a larger display for browsing the web on the go where at the moment people take a tablet with them.

I don't think we can defeat this pressure to be online for a singleplayer game so it would benefit compatibility if you could just plug in a sim card and be able to start more games.

I'm not against the device having a sim slot for those that want it. I just feel it should be optional (So you could use the device just the same, even if no sim is inserted.)

I'd be fine with the device having a sim slot that's optional to use

I am waiting for Valve to release SteamOS for PC - this is the next important step that will push Linux to popularity.

It'll be nice to have that, but it won't matter to anyone who's not already into Linux. There will be no reason to install that over Windows on a PC for everyone else.