In a brand new interview with The Verge, Steam Deck designers Pierre-Loup Griffin and Lawrence Yang spoke about the way forward for Valve’s handheld console. When requested about the potential of releasing a model of the Steam Deck with a greater efficiency, each males admitted that it is a low precedence for them each in the meanwhile.
The Deck was all the time going to be iterative, however different console makers like Microsoft and Sony have (or plan to) launched a number of variations of their consoles up to now. Efficiency and determination is commonly the large promoting factors for getting one system over the opposite, corresponding to an Xbox Sequence S over an Xbox Sequence X.
However Griffais fairly candidly stated that every one Steam Decks being able to play the very same video games comes with a “lot of worth,” and that it could keep that method for a very good whereas. “I suppose we’ll choose to maintain the one efficiency stage for a bit bit longer, and solely take a look at altering the efficiency stage when there’s a vital acquire available.”
Steam Deck’s success all year long is vital for Valve, provided that its earlier dips into the {hardware} market weren’t as profitable as Valve initially hoped. A kind of makes an attempt was the Steam Controller, successfully the Deck’s predecessor.
Within the wake of the Deck’s success, Yang stated {that a} second model of the Steam Controller is one thing “we wish to make occur. It’s only a query of how and when.”
Valve ended assist for the Controller in 2019 following its loss in opposition to Ironburg Innovations over a patent violation. The controller was initially meant for the developer’s Steam Machines, which themselves have been quietly phased out over time.
Throughout its lifetime, the Steam Controller bought 1.6 million items and was notable for its two trackpads that exchange the 2 joysticks that outlined different sport controllers.
Yang continued by saying {that a} second model of the controller was one thing that Valve had been kicking round for awhile, however steadily bought placed on the backburner. He reaffirmed that the Deck stays a precedence for Valve, and that the Steam Controller will ultimately have one other day within the solar.
“It’s positively one thing the place we’d be excited to work with a third-party or discover ourselves.”
If Valve has its method, making the Deck’s Steam OS3 accessible for PCs by different producers can also consequence within the return of the Steam Machine. Yang stated that Valve was “excited to see individuals make their very own SteamOS machines which may embody small PCs that they put subsequent to their TV.”
Additional {hardware} ideas are being examined out for the lounge, confirmed Griffais, who reaffirmed that the corporate will concentrate on the place it feels Steam could greatest match.
“We’re doing our personal experiments, however would additionally like to work with third-parties to see what they must convey to the desk as nicely.”
