Valve has confirmed they are “hard at work” on the Steam Deck 2, even as the company continues to develop the Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Frame. While there is no official release window yet, Valve's focus remains on creating a meaningful successor.

The Evolution Toward Steam Deck 2

When Valve announced its trio of new hardware devices last November, programmer Pierre-Loup Griffais hinted at the importance of a substantial upgrade. He told IGN that Valve is "making sure… that it's a worthwhile enough performance upgrade to make sense as a standalone product."

Five months later, following confirmation of a release date and price for the Steam Controller, Griffais provided an update on the Steam Deck 2 project. "We're hard at work on it," he replied. He noted that Valve’s hardware evolution follows a direct lineage:

  • The original Steam Controller
  • The Steam Machine
  • The current Steam Deck
  • Upcoming hardware projects currently being announced and shipped

Griffais believes the learnings from these current projects will directly inform the development of the next-gen handheld.

Waiting for the Right Silicon

A major hurdle for the Steam Deck 2 is finding the right silicon to power it. Valve is not interested in minor improvements that offer only a 20% or 50% performance boost at the expense of battery life. Instead, the team is looking toward significant architectural improvements.

"We've been working back from silicon advancements and architectural improvements," Griffais stated last year. He added that while they have an idea of what the next version will look like, there are currently no offerings in the SoC (System on a Chip) landscape that meet their requirements for a true next-gen device.

Current Hardware Challenges

The original Steam Deck launched in February 2022, followed by the OLED model in November 2023. While the platform has an extensive list of verified games, it can struggle to run some modern PC titles effectively.

Current limitations for the hardware include:

  • Performance gaps when running demanding modern AAA games.
  • Battery life concerns, particularly during heavy usage; for example, God of War on default settings can drain a full charge in just 90 minutes.

In September 2023, Griffais told The Verge that the next iteration was at least a couple of years away. While fans hoped for a release in time for last year's holidays, Valve remains focused on ensuring the next leap in handheld gaming is a significant one.