The Steam Deck, Valve's upcoming handheld gaming PC, could impact the studio's game development prospects, if the hardware is successful enough.
The Steam Deck, the latest piece of hardware from Valve, is set to come out this holiday season. It aims to serve as a portable gaming PC, allowing users to run AAA titles on a handheld console that can connect to peripherals like any other computer. The announcement generated a significant amount of hype, and if the Steam Deck is as successful as that excitement indicates it will be, it's possible it could impact Valve's video game development prospects.
The Steam Deck's reveal generated such a reception that Valve's servers were unable to handle the influx of activity during Steam Deck reservations. Although Valve anticipates sending out order requests starting December 2021, new reservations show recent orders aren’t expected to ship until as late as Q3 2022, meaning many likely won't receive a Steam Deck until September of next year or later.
While some view the Steam Deck as a competitor to the Nintendo Switch, others see it as much more ambitious, particularly because of how versatile and customizable it is. By default, the Steam Deck will run off of the Linux-based SteamOS. However, it fully supports third-party software, including other operating systems such as Windows. The Steam Deck could not only run all of Steam's game library but that of the Epic Games Store and Xbox Game Pass as well. This could make it quite the sought-after piece of hardware, and it’s unclear what that will mean for Valve’s software projects.
For a long while, it appeared Valve was drifting away from video game development entirely. Half-Life 2: Episode Two came out in 2007, and the series saw no further releases until Half-Life: Alyx 13 years later. Valve's other successful franchises, like Portal and Left 4 Dead, have been seemingly abandoned since 2011 and 2009, respectively. Although Gabe Newell revealed in January 2021 that Valve has more single-player games in the works following Half-Life: Alyx, no specifics have been detailed. While there are games being created in the background, it does seem much of the studio's focus is on its Steam software and, recently, on hardware development.
The Steam Deck isn't the only piece of hardware Valve has put out lately. The Steam Machine and Steam Controller were released in 2015, and the company launched the Valve Index VR platform in 2019. Valve told IGN the Steam Deck's trackpads are an "evolution" of the Steam Controller's trackpad technology, which the company had been "experimenting with internally" since the controller's release. With this kind of hardware iteration going on behind the scenes, it doesn't seem Valve is planning to stop releasing consoles and peripherals, and there could very well be a Steam Deck 2 down the line.
It's currently unclear how Steam Deck and other hardware development will affect Valve's games. As a AAA game developer with games confirmed to be on the way, it's likely Valve can handle making both hardware and software at the same time, but those games could still be years away. Fans likely won't find out until at least December, though, whether the Steam Deck can live up to the hype it's already generated and how that could influence Valve's future direction.
