As expected really, Valve said they don't really expect to see a true next-gen Steam Deck for a few years yet. Speaking to Rock Paper Shotgun, it's clear Valve are very happy with the first year of the Steam Deck.
Talking to Valve's Lawrence Yang and engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais, it seems it has been blowing their minds. Something of a surprise though, even to me, is that Yang mentioned how they've noticed that "of the people who've purchased a Steam Deck, 42% of them end up spending the majority of their Steam gaming time on Steam Deck – preferring it over their other devices".
So not only is it still selling like tasty sugar-coated hot doughnuts, with it being in the top 10 of global sellers (based on revenue from SteamDB) where it's up against games shifting multiple millions, plenty of people are sticking with it and even shifting over to it.
One sticking point is more games coming out that don't perform well, and while the Steam Deck is impressive, it all depends on developers actually optimising for the hardware, as Griffais said "it'll depend on how developers approach it" and that "If high-end current-gen titles are able to scale to Deck and be a great experience, it also enables smoother performance on a wider variety of PCs, and improve the experience for the whole playerbase". Yang also mentioned how they've "seen a number of recently released demanding titles perform well on Steam Deck, due to developers targeting and testing on the device.".
As always, the problem is in numbers. If the Steam Deck continues selling well, developers won't be able to ignore it. I've seen many games perform brilliantly, even surprisingly so, when they've clearly had a lot of optimization done on them. Then I've also seen the opposite myself, with games that you would think would also work well simply don't (often these bigger AAA games that primarily seem to target consoles…).
When it comes to a true Steam Deck 2, we're clearly in for a wait, as Yang said "a true next-gen Deck with a significant bump in horsepower wouldn’t be for a few years".
Valve don't exactly need much to make the Steam Deck 2 a success — or do they?
Need some more games for Steam Deck? Check out the new Humble Heroines Bundle overview.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: BlackBloodRumQuoting: KimyrielleI belong to the 58% who still plays mostly on the desktop, but I am not parting with my Deck. It has become the device for gaming on the sofa or in bed and filled a gap for me there (I don't own a "proper" console and don't want one). I am still surprised how many recent games it can run just fine (including Hogwarts Legacies). Yes, that's probably going to change in the next few years when newer GPU generations become more widespread, but I expect the Deck to run most if not all the games I am playing for years to come.Oof consoles. I'm glad I got away from them!
I do agree though, Steam deck is great for portable gaming or playing in otherwise off-limits locations! It should run games for many years as you say (assuming you don't get hardware failure) simply because PC games allow adjusting graphics settings and such, so anything that doesn't quite run can probably be tweaked to run at some point (with less visual quality).
The biggest plus over consoles though? All games you're playing on it now, should Deck 2 or even Deck 3 become a thing, you can still use them without needing to buy them again for the current "generation". This for me has always been a major plus of PC gaming over consoles.
Yes. Nintendo try to destroy emulation, because it provides emulation for never platform (closed platform; one's consoles). You must buy license again, but now for newer hardware.
And Valve allows to play title from your PC. It also allows you to install Epic Game Store/Launcher, Ubisoft Connect and other.
Many people claims, Valve supports Linux, because they were scary about Windows Store and Windows becomes tied to it. I think, they support Linux, because Windows do not fit to console/mobile gaming and MS have XBox, so they could do something to get rid Valve from Windows, if it will release console. Valve invest in Linux, so they do not have to use Windows on Steam Deck and in future do not have to be scary of what MS can do. If Linux became better gaming platform, MS could say "BYE, BYE Valve!", but Valve could say "Who cares? We have Linux!" and focus more on next Steam Deck generations.
Last edited by Lachu on 11 March 2023 at 8:45 pm UTC
TheRiddick Mar 12, 2023
BlackBloodRum Mar 12, 2023
Quoting: GroganI can't comment on iPhone customers, since I've never owned any apple products! So I can't comment there. (Too expensive for my taste)Quoting: BlackBloodRumThe thing is, they don't have to target the hardware. They only need to ensure it works in proton or SteamOS (which, most of the work has already been done for them).
Even if the hardware changes, it doesn't break or change any of the developers previous or current on-going work.
I don't want to leave this hanging without acknowledgement. Of course that's right for the most part. The thing is, it's not me you have to convince.
First of all, customer disappointment. The clientele here is a bit different than iPhone customers lol
Secondly, right now they all have the same hardware and things are reproducible.
I'm sure I don't have to elabourate further, but these are more human conditions. Butthurt users, and devs that might throw up their arms and ridicule the platform for being so "unstable" (subject to change).
It is certainly useful to have the same hardware and to make things reproducible. This I fully agree.
As it stands however, most of the clientele thus far has been either:
A) Linux users
B) Steam customers
As it stands, both of these groups are used to the idea of upgrading hardware as it ages.
I feel the sweet spot is to have newer versions of the deck available after a reasonable time period (say, 4 to 5 years). This again has an advantage for the Deck though, unlike regular consoles, new games will continue being available for both Deck devices since they are, after all, just portable PCs. So customer who may wish to not upgrade to a new device are not forced to. They can still play the new games on their older deck at lower graphics settings. Unlike normal consoles, you're not going to be suddenly locked out of playing your new games.
Last edited by BlackBloodRum on 12 March 2023 at 2:44 pm UTC
mr-victory Mar 12, 2023
Quoting: BlackBloodRumpornableI hope this is a typo.
BlackBloodRum Mar 12, 2023
). Which is why I keep hoping the Deck becomes big enough where they can't ignore us any longer.Last edited by lejimster on 12 March 2023 at 6:26 pm UTC
Quoting: BlackBloodRumI can't comment on iPhone customers, since I've never owned any apple products! So I can't comment there. (Too expensive for my taste)
Mine too (waste of money) but I was referring to the upgrade cycle of iPhones. It keeps them envious, and a lot of people tend to upgrade their iPhones whether they need it or not.
(Personally I HATE getting a new phone! What do I need that hassle for? I keep a smart phone for 4 to 5 years at least. It's usually Android getting too old that makes me upgrade, not the hardware)
BlackBloodRum Mar 12, 2023
Quoting: GroganThen Fairphone may be to your interest. Even comes with a 5 year warranty, is user serviceable (yes, that's right, you can actually pop the battery out! You can even buy spare parts) and you can easily swap the OS without having to "hack" the device.Quoting: BlackBloodRumI can't comment on iPhone customers, since I've never owned any apple products! So I can't comment there. (Too expensive for my taste)
Mine too (waste of money) but I was referring to the upgrade cycle of iPhones. It keeps them envious, and a lot of people tend to upgrade their iPhones whether they need it or not.
(Personally I HATE getting a new phone! What do I need that hassle for? I keep a smart phone for 4 to 5 years at least. It's usually Android getting too old that makes me upgrade, not the hardware)
I don't have one yet, as I myself only heard about it recently. I'm going to wait until the next fairphone model (speculated sept this year) and use that, since my phone is only 3 years old and still getting security updates. Additionally, apparently the FP4 has a bug which can cause the bootloader to become locked after switching OS.. for me that's a problem as someone who changes my phones operating systems.
One thing I'm interested to try is uBuntu touch, which supposedly works well with it.
CyborgZeta Mar 14, 2023
I have modest gaming needs, so my Deck is fine as is. Frankly, I'm debating moving away from large desktops with large graphics cards to using one of my laptops, or a tiny PC, for computer stuff with devices like my Deck becoming my primary means of gaming. Building my desktop PC took time and money, and my dislike of most modern games makes building another one not worth it. As long as I can use emulators up to PS2 and play the dozen or so Steam games I want to play, then I'm fine.
I left consoles behind for PC gaming back in 2021, but my PS4 still has a place for games; one of the benefits of consoles is that I can boot up a game and I know it will run. I'm debating getting a PS5 sometime this year to complement my Deck, should I choose to move away from large desktops.
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me