Valve Steam Deck: Everything We Know - CONTENTS

• Valve Steam Deck: Reviews, Gameplay impressions
• Valve Steam Deck: Release Date, Price, Models
• Valve Steam Deck: Games
• Valve Steam Deck: Hardware Specifications
• Valve Steam Deck: Docking Station and Accessories
• Valve Steam Deck: Operating System and User Interface
• Steam Deck: Language Localisations
• Valve Steam Deck: Streaming, Cloud Gaming, VR
• Valve Steam Deck: Multimedia and Applications

Valve Steam Deck: Review, Gameplay Impressions

As Valve Steam Deck won't be released until February 2022, there are no reviews available yet.

However, IGN Magazine's editor was able to test the handheld at Valve's offices and the first impression was very promising. IGN's Bo Moore praises the controls which may look oddly placed, but he says they're very comfortable. The biggest surprise is the trackpad with allegedly the sensitivity and accuracy of a classic mouse. Moore also tried playing in dock mode, and if he didn't see the dock right next to the monitor, he said he would have thought he was playing on a regular PC. He also praises SteamOS, which he says will be very familiar to Windows owners. In terms of graphics, newer games like Control, Doom or Death Stranding Supposedly they run on the Deck at medium to high detail without any image stuttering and look very good.

The Verge magazine praises the high performance capabilities of running large AAA games at medium detail and highlights the relatively large size of the console, which enables the Valve Steam Deck to be more easily and comfortably held in comparison to the smaller and lighter Nintendo Switch. The editor of the server PC Gamer also came to the same conclusions regarding size and ergonomics: he points out that when playing on Steam Deck, you'll forget that running games weren't originally designed for handheld gaming at all, and the analogue stick controls are far more precise than on the Switch. He adds, though, that it's not necessarily a replacement for Nintendo's console.

The editor of the magazine Tom's Hardware also shares the general enthusiasm, and although the games don't look as good as they do on a desktop PC, he says it's a PC gamer's dream of handheld gaming come true. The positive feedback has also been joined by early developers who praise the fact that their games are mostly running very well on Steam Deck.

Valve Steam Deck: Release Date, Price, Models

The handheld Valve Steam Deck will be released on February 25, 2022 (first owners will receive it on February 28) and will be sold in three variants. The cheapest model, with 64 GB internal memory and a slower disk will cost 419 euros, the medium variant with a 256 GB SSD will cost 549 euros, and the most expensive version with 512 GB and an even faster SSD and other bonuses will cost 679 euros.

Preorders are available from July 16th 2021. To complete the pre-order, you need to have an active Steam account and pay a 5 euro fee to protect against bulk pre-orders from resellers. Only one console can be pre-ordered per account. It can be expected that, as in the case of PlayStation 5 and Xbox X Series – at least initially – demand will exceed available quantities. Similarly to PS5 and Xbox X, ordering the console will be governed by the first-come, first served basis.

Steam Deck release was November 2021 scrolled by two months, the console was originally due out in December of that year. The reason, according to Valve, is a shortage of certain components.

Valve Steam Deck: Games

Despite initial announcements, Steam Deck will not support all games you find on Steam. Valve has therefore come up with a compatibility system that will announce each game's level of compatibility with Steam Deck via an icon. Full (Verified) means that you can start the game immediately and it will work without any problems. Partial (Playable) compatibility means that the game will require adjusting settings or having to make do with some flaws when running. Zero (Unsupported) means that the title is not currently running on Steam Deck, and Unknown indicates titles that Valve has not yet tested.

According to Valve, all titles should run smoothly on Steam Deck, but newer and more performance-intensive titles should be expected to have weaker visuals. For now, however, we'll have to wait for gameplay footage directly from the Steam Deck and more detailed information about any concessions. Valve game developer Pierre-Loup Griffais for IGN magazine stated that Valve Steam Deck will especially please those gamers who are not so much concerned with the best graphics but want a smoother FPS experience, which in itself indicates what attributes the handheld focuses on.

Any game previously bought on Steam on PC can be run on the Steam Deck, there's no need to buy the title again to run it and it works the other way round as well. There is also cross-save support, so if you play a game on PC, you will be able to continue playing on the Deck and vice versa, even if you do not turn off the game on Steam Deck, but only switch the handheld to sleep mode, as is customary for console gaming. Thanks to Save Position Sync Dynamic Cloud Sync, all newly saved positions are uploaded to the cloud before the device goes to sleep.

Steam Deck: Hardware Specifications

"The greatest gaming performance you've ever held in your hands," reads the official Steam Deck website, and it's not just lip service. Compared to Nintendo Switch, Valve Steam Deck is many times more powerful. At the heart of the console is the Zen 2 processor based on the modern RDNA 2 architecture with four cores running at 2.4 to 3.5 GHz. Graphics are handled by 8 cores also from the RDNA 2 architecture with a total computing power of 1.6 TFLOPS. For comparison: Nintendo Switch has to operate with mere 0.5 TFLOPS, Xbox One S 1.4 and PlayStation 4 1.8 TFLOPS. RAM will be 16GB of DDR5 and the console's internal memory will range from 64GB to 512GB, depending on the model.

It is the internal memory that will play a major role in the loading speed of games, but also the price of the device itself. The basic version with 64GB memory will offer an eMMC drive, which is a cheaper and less powerful than the SSD variant. The 256GB and 512GB versions will already offer fast NVMe SSDs, with the most expensive variant expected to have even faster write and read speeds. The memory of all three variants can be expanded using Micro SD cards, which can be used to run games directly, but logically it is not as elegant a solution as the internal memory.

The Steam Deck's look is based on the conventions established by handhelds such as the PlayStation Portable, the later PS Vita and, of course, the current market leader in portable consoles, the Nintendo Switch. Two analogue sticks, a directional cross and a quad of buttons based on an Xbox controller are no surprise. On the other hand, the pair of trackpads, which can serve better than analogue sticks in certain moments, is a nice innovation, and the quad of buttons on the bottom also sounds promising, similar to the Xbox Elite controller. Most of the front of the console is taken up by a 7" LCD display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 px and a maximum frequency of 60 Hz. The console's battery life is claimed by the manufacturer to be between 2 and 8 hours, depending on the difficulty of the game or application running.

- Source: Valve, Nintendo

Valve Steam Deck: Docking Station and Other Accessories

Unlike the Nintendo Switch, the docking station is not included in the package, it has to be purchased separately and Valve hasn't revealed many details about it yet. The main purpose, however, as in the case of the Switch, is the ability to transfer the image to a monitor or TV and thus make the Steam Deck a classic desktop console, in this case, due to the wide range of uses rather a desktop PC.

The resulting image can be up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K at up to 120Hz. The Steam Deck connects to the station via a USB-C cable, while the image can come from the console via HDMI output but also DisplayPort. The dock will go on sale at a later date and we should learn more about it soon. But according to Valve, we'll be able to use any USB hub powered by USB-C to connect to a monitor or TV.

Other accessories are currently unannounced by Valve, but we can expect at least official accessories such as various cases and other gear to be introduced soon. Thanks to the Linux-based operating system and the Proton superstructure, however, we should be able to connect all PC-supported peripherals to the Deck, including mice and keyboards.

Steam Deck: Operating System and User interface

Steam Deck is powered by the Linux-based SteamOS operating system, but uses the Proton superstructure, which allows you to run applications, including games, on Linux that run on Windows. In addition to supporting virtually all PC games (Valve hasn't announced if there are any exceptions, or if we can actually run everything Steam supports on PC on the handheld), this also results in support for other desktop applications, so Steam Deck can be used almost like a full PC, especially when connected to the dock, where you can also connect a mouse and keyboard to the device.

Given its performance, it should handle at least not only office programs, but, of course, also streaming platforms such as Netflix or Xbox Cloud Gaming. Given the PC architecture of the handheld and the fact that the operating system is Linux-based, it shouldn't even be difficult to install full Windows on the Steam Deck.

The UI itself has not yet been unveiled, but it will be a modified version of the desktop Steam, adapted to a smaller screen or touch controls. There's no shortage of key features like notifications or social features, led by Steam Chat.

Valve Steam Deck: Streaming, Cloud Gaming, VR

Steam Deck will support Remote Play, allowing you to stream games from your desktop PC directly to your Steam Deck, all you need is a good internet connection. We don't have more information about Remote Play on Deck yet.

Since the console is essentially a classic PC, it shouldn't be a problem to stream games through services like GeForce Now or Google Stadiathat work in a web browser on a PC. Seamless operation of Xbox Cloud Gaming and therefore the service Xbox Game Pass confirmed Head of Xbox Division Phil Spencer.

As far as virtual reality support is concerned, Valve hasn't made any official statement yet, but the company's founder and CEO Gabe Nowell Interview told IGN magazine that thanks to the openness of the platform, Steam Deck will also allow connecting virtual reality headsets, specifically mentioning Oculus Quest, which offers both traditional wired and wireless connectivity. However, given the performance demands of VR titles, playing in virtual reality will certainly come with some compromises. However, we don't know more about VR support on Steam Deck yet.

Steam Deck: Multimedia and Applications

Valve hasn't announced any official list of supported applications yet, and we probably won't see it, because, given the operating system used, Steam Deck can run a whole range of applications, not only multimedia applications written for Linux and Windows. Compared to, for example, Nintendo Switch, Deck will offer a much wider range of uses, from gaming to watching movies or listening to music through native apps or the web browser.

- Sources: steamdeck.com, store. steampowered.com