In a new interview with IGN, Valve has given a few more little details about their thoughts on how things with the Steam Deck are going along with notes on the official Steam Deck Dock and SteamOS on more devices. The full interview is worth a read but here's a few choice notes for you.
Firstly, when it comes to the long-delayed official Docking Station, Valve mentioned they're facing a lot of the same supply issues as they did with the Steam Deck directly, however the Docking Station is being made elsewhere so it has its own set of issues and they are "going to hopefully announce something soon". A lot of work is also going into ensuring the Steam Deck works with "as many peripherals as possible" and that work they put in for the official Docking Station "works on every dock – so every USB dock is benefiting from all of the work that we do on SteamOS".
The response in Japan has been "incredibly positive" and they have been spending time talking to Japanese developers about it and the reaction from Japanese developers and publishers "has been immensely, immensely positive".
Valve reiterated, again, that work is ongoing in SteamOS for the upcoming official installer for more devices. When that happens, there will also be an official way to dual-boot with Windows. They're also "excited to bring SteamOS to other manufacturers that might want to put it on their handheld gaming PC".
In terms of Deck Verified and the overall experience, they're working with developers to encourage them to change their default configurations for the Steam Deck and other similar devices and they continue to iterate on the Deck Verified program. They do keep having developers reach out to them for help on getting from Unsupported or Playable to Verified.
They're also keeping an eye on the modding community, to see what people really want but they're trying to balance not having too many settings out of the box.
Don't expect to a see a slimmer Steam Deck in future as Valve mentioned the trade-offs like smaller screens, less battery life and they seem to be very happy with the current ergonomics of it that the size affords like the proper grips on the side noting "We really wanted there to be something that your hands could grip and hold onto for a really long play session.".
Quoting: TuxeeQuoting: fagnerlnSteam deck looks perfect: size, ergonomics, weight, etc... But would be nice if they invest in some external gpu solution in a newer version.
For 5 potential customers out there?
Well, it's up to how expensive would be the gpu dock.
I prefer to play on a big screen than on my monitor, I would remove the GPU on my desktop to use on Deck without problems, the iGPU is decent to my use.
That's what...
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