Valve is already planning a follow-up to its hotly anticipated Steam Deck, in response to the corporate’s president Gabe Newell.
Chatting with EDGE Magazine, Newell was discussing Valve’s shock when the costliest model of the Steam Deck proved to “far and away” be the most well-liked model of the hand held. “That is why we at all times like to get one thing on the market and ship it. As a result of we study lots from that, and it helps body our pondering for Deck 2.”
This new model of the Steam Deck will possible be a extra highly effective model of the machine, reflecting what Valve believes its prospects are saying in buying the higher-end deck. “They’re principally saying ‘We want an much more costly model of this’ when it comes to horsepower capabilities or no matter,” Newell mentioned.
Certainly, it seems Valve already has a protracted future deliberate for the Steam Deck, with Newell envisioning it as a “everlasting addition” to PC gaming. “The second iterations are going to be extra about: What are the capabilities that cellular provides us, above and past what you’d get in a conventional desktop or laptop computer?”
What’s attention-grabbing about that is that Valve’s imaginative and prescient for the Steam Deck seemingly ties into its ongoing pursuit of VR gaming, with Newell stating that the Steam Deck represents “battery-capable, high-performance horsepower that ultimately you possibly can use in VR functions as properly”.
It is true that one of many fundamental boundaries to creating VR gaming accessible is the bodily inconvenient nature of the {hardware}, which is why Fb/Meta’s Quest headsets are by far the most well-liked VR gadgets. May Valve be planning a Steam Deck that considerably integrates right into a VR headset, one which concurrently reduces the price of investing in VR {hardware} and makes it simpler to make use of? Or maybe only a Steam Deck with sufficient graphical energy to push a tethered VR headset, such because the Valve Index.
No matter Valve’s plans are, Newell says “We’re probably not there but.” However it looks like a second Steam Deck may be very a lot within the pipelines regardless.
