In a slightly decisive assertion made shortly after the launch of Valve’s handheld in Australia, Steam Deck product designer Lawrence Yang outright condemned the discharge of yearly merchandise which can be solely “incrementally higher” than the earlier design.
Whereas the Steam Deck continues to be the very best handheld gaming PC all-around, it’s ageing AMD APU is beginning to fall behind rivals by way of energy. Regardless of this, Valve isn’t going to show to annual releases and can as a substitute watch for the best expertise to come back alongside earlier than releasing an all new handheld.
In an interview with Evaluations.org, Steam Deck designers Lawrence Yang and Yazan Aldehyyat spoke on the success of the Deck, it’s Australian launch, and most significantly, what’s subsequent for the model.
Essentially the most curious quote comes from Yang who, when addressing what’s subsequent, says “You will need to us, and we’ve tried to be actually clear, we’re not doing the yearly cadence”.
This was adopted up with “we’re not going to do a bump yearly. There’s no purpose to try this. And, actually, from our perspective, that’s sort of probably not truthful to your clients to come back out with one thing so quickly that’s solely incrementally higher. So we actually do wish to watch for a generational leap in compute with out sacrificing battery life earlier than we ship the true second era of Steam Deck.”
It’s a fairly damning assertion that reveals Valve isn’t speeding into it’s plans for a Steam Deck 2, and whereas the Steam Deck OLED has confirmed standard regardless of it’s lack of enhancements, it hasn’t tempted the corporate into pushing an annual launch mannequin, and all however confirms no bulletins are coming in 2024.
Whereas it isn’t outright acknowledged, it’s exhausting to disregard that Yang could also be referring to Asus and it’s three ROG Ally handhelds, all launched throughout the area of 13 months, though the non-Excessive mannequin was by no means bought as being an improve, however as a substitute a less expensive different with much less energy. That being stated, Valve’s OLED launch was hardly in step with what’s being preached right here with reference to incremental upgrades.
Valve, nonetheless, seem blissful to attend for a real next-generation gadget earlier than pushing a brand new handheld, and I’ve to confess, it’s the neatest play given it’s present perceived standing because the main handheld gaming PC.
When you watch for a brand new Steam Deck, you may try our Asus ROG Ally X overview for a peak on the greatest menace to Valve’s handheld crown.
