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

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

As I saw mentioned on reddit, this curse is already broken. Behold! We have SteamOS 3 already running on every Deck!


Last edited by wit_as_a_riddle on 26 August 2022 at 1:33 pm UTC

the wii u showed them that they can't build another generation on gimmicks

..but think about it, if motion sensors were invented before gamepads with buttons and joysticks, how the industry would be nowadays? most games would be made for motion, they would have nailed the motion controls, polished it, perfected it, they would know what work and what dont with this type of controls, and when someone made an controller with buttons and an stick, that would be the one seeing as gimiick.

I highly doubt that and the reason is simple: With traditional controllers you can play action packed games and get cozy with minimal action. While motion controls aren't exactly sports, they can't deliver the layed back, cozy feeling of traditional controls by miles. They are also not compatible with handheld gaming at all, people have tried.
Also, motion controls are damn old, there were home consoles with motion controls (even predating duck hunt) in the early 80s, maybe even earlier. Nintendo generalized them a little more with the wii and I don't say it was bad, it's just not a full alternative.
The future of motion controls clearly lies in VR, no doubt it is necessary there.

"even more open"

Perhaps they are taking a page out of Aya Neo's book and bringing in other software stores? Possibly preloading their clients on SteamOS? Maybe they are even inviting the likes of Epic, Origin, and GOG to create linux clients for this purpose?

Going another route maybe they mean the OS itself will be more open to being installable on other pieces of hardware? I think that is coming as a certainty anyhow, given the words of GDP in that they are "cooperating with Valve" to bring SteamOS to the Win (Lin) Max 2 and the words of Gabe stating, "Our view is, If we’re doing this right, that we’re going to be selling these in millions of units, And it’s clearly going to be establishing a product category that ourselves and other PC manufacturers are going to be able to participate in. And that’s going to have long-term benefits for us. So that’s sort of the frame in which we’re thinking about this."

I still maintain if it was worth it for Valve to subsidize their own hardware, with the main goals being to grow the PC gaming open ecosystem, Steam's market share, and linux gaming viability (wresting PC gaming away from Microsoft control), then it is worth it to them to subsidize other hardware. Bringing the cost down means faster adoption, accelerating the pace towards their goals.

30% from every game is a lot of money to play with, they use a bit of it to help drive adoption of other handhelds or gaming PCs that ship with SteamOS.

I like "more steam deck, more steamos" in the end, they are the only major actor in the industry standing for linux gaming. All games that have been published with linux builds are available, unlike for gog for instance. The fact that such a big company is doing this could be a good driving force in the future for linux gaming. Other competitors might have to get a look at linux. There a huge amount of work involved from valve and it was a big bet to release the steam deck with steamos. Unless some lucky curse of event for mankind, everyone is pretty much aware that standart of life we had is gonna lower more and more. Things will get more expensive and rare, any extra cost might also become an issue over time for the big publisher like EA, Ubisoft,Blizzard, Epic and maybe Microsoft itself... At least I hope :p

Valve prooved that it was feasable with a good concept that came accross the philosophy of this platform since quite a couple of years now. Steamdeck is a real successfull launch, and it runs way beyond what most people were expecting, troublefree for the most and without headache for final users from what I've read. They've prooved something no one in the industry would have bet on, and now they look at valve and linux differently.


Last edited by Jahimself on 26 August 2022 at 2:01 pm UTC

I hope by the time the Steam deck 2 is out I would be able to buy a Steam Deck 1 in Argentina XD lol

Same in Mexico :')

I have enjoyed my Steam Deck and would probably buy a Steam Deck 2, then hand mine down to my oldest kiddo. I would hope that a Steam Deck 2 would have the option to turn on back light for the buttons...playing in the dark is tricky when you have to hunt for a button.

I hope it gets a little arm co-processor to handle background stuff like downloads and music...

Steam Deck 2 will likely be years away, but we'll likely see new devices running SteamOS from other vendors before that. Very nice.
I'd love to see a console running SteamOS to directly compete with XBox/PS5.

I would hope that a Steam Deck 2 would have the option to turn on back light for the buttons...playing in the dark is tricky when you have to hunt for a button.

This is my only real complaint with the Steam Deck.

For a wishlist of hardware features, I'd like:

• Backlit buttons (esp. the STEAM button)


• USB-C on top and bottom


• Pop-out NVMe drive like MicroSD (See Surface Pro 7/X)


• IPS or OLED screen

But these are all minor points. I've had my Steam Deck for almost a month now and I am still delighted with it. Hands-down the niftiest Linux box I've bought. Which is saying a lot for me.

Software-wise, I'd like a usable web browser in Gaming mode. They could add that to the Deck 1. They're clearly almost there with the Store integration.

Steam Deck 2 will likely be years away,

Next year away! This isn't traditional console. And RDNA3 4nm APU's will definitely be available to Valve sometime next year.

SteamDeck 1.0 does look like its a rather big beta test in preparation for future versions. But they have accomplished allot.
The issue with flatpak is allot of 3rd party developers were not ready to support it when SteamDeck was released, but that isn't flatpak or Valves fault, its been around forever.


Last edited by TheRiddick on 27 August 2022 at 12:03 am UTC

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 dunno, I think if the plan was to get lots of positive reviews, more sales than they can manufacture units to fill, and an accelerating rate of people reserving them, then it's going according to plan.
Not sure what better outcome they could have gotten by postponing.

I would hope that a Steam Deck 2 would have the option to turn on back light for the buttons...playing in the dark is tricky when you have to hunt for a button.

This is my only real complaint with the Steam Deck.

I'm honestly curious, would this be any use for buttons besides the Steam and Ellipsis buttons? All the rest are pretty much directly under your fingers while holding the Deck, and even the aforementioned two I can easily find without looking. (It would be pretty cool to see, though, and I'm definitely behind it on that front! Imagine full RGB and customizable options per button… )

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.

i dont know if that is a good idea.
one of the issues with steam machines is that, valve relased steamOS before they relased the machines, people started doing benchmarks on a lot of hardwares including hardware that didnt favor linux, didnt put it in a good light, people started to attack steamOS performance before steam machines even launched, that was one of the reasons why they didnt sell well, the argument of having an more efficient OS was debunked (i know it was not linux fault that thirdy party game and hardwre developers didnt support it properly but the end user dont care), not only the machines didnt sold well but most people installed windows on it.

i think valve should make sure steamOS have the best possible performance on deck and windows is the second class citizen on it, until it gain enough market to developers start supporting linux instead of relying on proton (or at least use vulkan for their games instead of dx12) then we can have an fair competition, then they can launch steamOS for everyone.
if steam deck sell as many units as at least an ps3, then its safe.

I hope by the time the Steam deck 2 is out I would be able to buy a Steam Deck 1 in Argentina XD lol

Yep, same here in Australia... Whenever Valve Software releases hardware, it takes 3+ years before we see it on Australian shelves.

Personally, I think they're doing themselves a disservice, because the longer they leave it, the less interested I am in the Steam Deck and if it's gonna take them 3+ years to release, well it's likely the long-rumored "Nintendo Switch Pro" will have released by then.

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.

Given how long it takes Valve Software to release hardware in Australia, I don't think this is a good idea - we'll probably be looking towards "6G" be the time a "Steam Deck 2" releases in Australia, rendering such a feature useless... Of course, Australia is completely irrelevant in the world of gaming, at least according to Valve Software, so the fact that this feature will be useless by the time a "Steam Deck 2" is released in Australia is itself irrelevant.

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

Gee, your cellular networks must be pretty bad over there then - here in Australia, I can play the likes of 'Fortnite: Battle Royale' on my Sony PlayStation 4 Pro without issue when using my Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max as a 'hotspot' with Australia's smallest network (Network Vodafone)... It's a totally different story when it comes to fixed broadband - our infamous National Broadband Network ("NBN") that is - and lag / drop-outs / etc are commonplace.

And yet Steam Deck 1 is still unavailable here :(

Don't worry - 2024 is approaching and we should see the 'Steam Deck' by then... Right about the time the rest of the world is seeing the release of a "Steam Deck 2". 🙄

Just give up and wait for SD2.. I'm in Australia also and unless the SteamDeck gets discounted I'm not going to bother.

I'm starting to think Valve REALLY doesn't like AU/NZ for some reason... either that or middlemen at blocking its import. (just go via amazon, worked for Quest)

Considering Valve Software seem to be one of the few exceptions when it comes to (significantly) delaying the release of new products in Australia - for those outside of Australia, we typically wait three years or more for Valve Software to release hardware in Australia - I'm guessing it's the fact that Valve Software seem to have something against Australia...

We keep making the same jokes, but Valve's obviously changed. They are quick now, and things can get a version 3.

You say that, yet it takes three years or more for Valve Software to release new hardware in Australia... Meanwhile, almost every other consumer electronics company - from itty-bitty companies all the way up to companies comparable to Valve Software - seem to be able to release new products in Australia in a timely fashion.

Yeah, nothing has changed, "Valve Time" is alive and well.


Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 27 August 2022 at 5:46 am UTC

Next year away! This isn't traditional console. And RDNA3 4nm APU's will definitely be available to Valve sometime next year.

Is the difference on the CPU and GPU side big enough though?
Hardware development slows down over the years so the differences between two generations become smaller as well.


Last edited by tpau on 27 August 2022 at 11:33 am UTC

"more open"
SteamOS 3 working on more devices is a given from its inception, so IMHO this is more to do with how they'll ship it...

On the Steam Deck 1, they made the system partition read-only and set it up for A/B updates. While it's perfectly possible to enable writing to the system partition, all changes done to it are lost after major updates overwrite the system image with a nee one.

My hope is that they start shipping it like a common linux distro, with a single writeable system partition by default, and start relying more on using a Recovery Image from an USB Stick when necessary.


"localized distro websites"
I found a few important localized versions:
https://cn.ubuntu.com/
https://jp.ubuntu.com/
http://manjaro.org.cn/

...but there are indeed several missing localizations and there is much to be said about having no visible language selector on the website at all times even when those are available

I'm disappointed with Linux Mint's page being now exclusively in English now, since the old website at least had French and some other language too. It will probably go back to having them soon, because the page redesign is very recent, but it would be better if those never got taken down until then.
ps: there is a localized brazilian version (https://www.linuxmint.com.br/), but made by a community member, not by the official devs... a bit weird really, but I checked and at least it directs you to the official download page and not to malware.


"what will be different in Steam Deck 2"

this just NEEDS to be addressed: a wifi chip with proper linux support out-of-the-box, even if it costs more than the current unstable pile of junk... Valve has burned through significant user goodwill due to widespread wifi driver issues on the Deck 1... having the same issues on the new edition would be a proper scandal

a new selection of silent coolers... noise also burned through a lot if user goodwill, and they should have sourced enough parts with decent specs... planning for multi-sourcing is probably more effective than finding a new source when the design is finished

newer processor... each new generation makes a small difference in CPU power, but a nice big leap in iGPU power, which for gaming is more important and is a clear bottleneck for the Deck running stuff at better than 30 FPS

faster RAM is unlikely given it already shipped with LPDDR5, but would be a big performance win if possible to use those HBM 3D-stacked RAM chips without a prohibitively cost

having OLED as an option would be awesome too, and maybe it would help power consumption a bit when idle with black screen, etc

From the booklet:

Not only that, but it contains the most powerful graphics hardware of any handheld in the world.

Is that true? I don't think so.

If they can keep improving and expanding support for titles, it will be relatively easy for them to resurrect the steam machine, except this time build it themselves... While they're at it they should show some love the steam controller.
In the last 2 years I've used my steam controller more than ever, to a point where it's starting to fall apart and I have had to fix a couple of issues on it. I almost bought another second hand, but I will keep my original running as long as possible.

If Valve themselves build and sell a Steam Console (with desktop-class hardware inside a custom-designed casing and cooling solution, like Sony did with the PS5), paired with a reedition of the Steam Controller, this would be a killer successor to the failed Steam Machine experiment. IMHO everything that went wrong then is now proven mature enough to go right.

It could run the exact same OS as the Steam Deck and even dualboot a traditional desktop linux or windows (give it a 3.5" easy-access sata3 slot for a secondary drive and it's a happiness bomb for cheaper storage expansion and/or dualbooting)

Shipping SteamOS on it means effortless support for the exact same (unbeatable) range of 3rd-party controllers, VR equipment, external storages, exotic peripherals, etc

Because those are PC games, using it as a PC tower paired with kbd+mouse+monitor is a non-issue unlike traditional consoles

Using desktop-class components on it means those are easily replaceable and upgradeable for off-the-shelf standard PC parts and the extra casing space means it can be designed for easy repairability (no glue, no frail plastic clamps, less fragile flat ribbons, all components readily accessible instead of layered on top of each other), even if more compact than a standard PC case.

The OS also confers an openness to modding, 3rd-party game stores and apps, usage beyond playing games, etc that is completely unparalleled in traditional gaming consoles. This had no face outside PC gaming until the Deck appeared and effectively eliminated the division between those two gaming categories.

There will be instant access to a HUGE catalog, costless access to games already purchased on Steam, etc. And this will be even better than what's seen at launch on the Steam Deck, because the Deck-certified effort and the improvements made by game devs to conform to it all will also benefit this new device.

The larger and non-portable form-factor allows for higher-powered CPU, GPU, RAM, etc, paired with bigger active cooling fan(s) (better flow at lower noise).

They can probably even offer it in a cheaper price range than building a custom PC or buying a prebuilt one like ROG, Alienware and other gaming-branded stuff of similar performance, making this a tempting purchase for general purpose PC uses too.


Last edited by Marlock on 29 August 2022 at 12:24 am UTC

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

SteamOS 3 is the first time they've been able to count to 3.

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

SteamOS 3 is the first time they've been able to count to 3.

And they even emphasized it... Right now, it's SteamOS 3.3!