TheSteam Deckis set to be Valve’s next piece of hardware, allowing players to take their PC libraries with them wherever they go. However, it appears that Valve has zero interest in making theSteam Deckits own dedicated platform according to a new FAQ page.
Valve is fulfilling a very specific interest with the Steam Deck: portable gaming based on players' Steam library. Sure, there is the argument for just playing on a laptop, but the Steam Deck is meant to provide a bit more convenience and comfort without compromising game performance. Obviously there are games that can only be played with mouse and keyboard with zero room for a gamepad support, but that is what theSteam Deck Compatability Systemis for, so that players can know which games will run well on the device, and those that won’t. The Steam Deck was supposed to release this Decemeber but was delayed to February due to manufacturing delays.
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In a detailed FAQ for the Steam Deck, Valve reveals its stance on if it was interested in games being developed solely for its upcoming portable device. “No, that doesn’t make much sense to us,” Valve writes, rather bluntly shutting down the thought process. It continues, stating, “It’s a PC and it should just play games like a PC,” speaking to the balance of the Steam Deck’s portability, and its ability to be played while docked. These thoughts are in line with previous statements by Valve, one mentioning the company’s desire for thehandheld PC market to continue after the Steam Deck, something that likely wouldn’t happen if games started being developed specifically for it.
Unlike the Nintendo Switch who’s performance varies between its portable and docked states, theSteam Deck will perform the same regardless of its playing state. Some games have already been shown running on the device like this year’sPsychonauts 2, and the massiveThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, both fairly graphically and performance intensive games. Like gaming on PC, players will be able to customize their graphics settings as to get their desired performance, though most games will start with the intended graphics settings out of the box. That said, if those games can run on the device, there are likely an insurmountable number of titles that can as well.
Valve’s stance on Steam Deck exclusive games is indicative of the strong vision it had when making the device. The console market is a tough industry to break into, with PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo being the mainstays for over 20 years now. Steam Deck was never intended to compete against those brands and services, but be an extension forPC players looking to do more with their Steam libraries(though it does share some conceptual similarities to the Switch). Making Steam Deck exclusive games would be missing the point of the device.
TheSteam Decklaunches in February of 2022.
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