Valve Says Steam Deck 2 Is Getting Closer, but Still Not Ready Yet

The Steam Machine is officially acceptable to launch, but that hasn’t stopped america from wondering however adjacent Valve is to unveiling the long-awaited Steam Deck 2. Speaking to IGN up of today's Steam Machine review, Valve’s engineers hinted that the Steam Deck 2 is person than ever, but that they inactive haven’t seen the “generational leap” they’re waiting for to marque a second-generation Deck worthy it.

“I'd accidental we're person than we were the past clip we talked,” said Valve Engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais. “We’re decidedly getting there.”

For those keeping track, Griffais told america Valve has a “pretty bully idea” of what Steam Deck 2 is going to beryllium successful November of past year, and reiterated they were “hard astatine work” erstwhile we spoke up of the Steam Controller motorboat earlier this year.

In the clip since then, a caller procreation handheld gaming processor deed the marketplace – the caller Intel Arc G3, which volition motorboat successful the $1,799 MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, arsenic good arsenic a fistful of different Windows-based handhelds successful the coming weeks.

The Arc G3 is simply a almighty spot to beryllium sure, but it inactive wasn’t capable to determination the needle for Valve.

“I would accidental that the caller chips that are coming retired are inactive successful powerfulness envelopes that are not rather the close conception that you'd privation for a existent handheld experience,” Griffais said. “I deliberation a batch of them are much low-end laptop chips oregon playing successful that benignant of signifier origin that are past repurposed for handhelds and possibly not starring to, I conjecture the trade-off that we would've chosen successful presumption of powerfulness and amended beingness and that and each that.”

In different words, there’s apt capable powerfulness successful the chips coming retired these days, but they wouldn’t beryllium capable to deed those numbers portion besides maintaining the benignant of artillery beingness that Valve wants to spot successful its next-generation handheld. Of course, the ongoing RAM situation is apt a origin arsenic well, and I don’t uncertainty that Valve would similar to hold until proviso – and prices – instrumentality to much mean levels connected that beforehand earlier committing to putting retired a caller handheld, particularly if it hopes to motorboat astatine oregon adjacent the archetypal terms constituent of the Steam Deck, which itself precocious saw a important terms hike.

All that said, Griffais was wide that a Steam Deck 2 is inactive successful the works.

“We're moving towards our adjacent gen for sure,” Griffais said. “We'll decidedly beryllium talking astir that successful the coming years, but close present we're focusing connected Machine.”

For much connected the Steam Machine, cheque retired our afloat review.

Bo Moore is IGN's Senior Manager of Tech. You tin find him online @usebomswisely.