The Steam Deck had a pretty successful launch this year and has since received a number of tweaks. But the designers’ thoughts go further.
The Steam Deck is here, but what’s next? The machine is not entirely without problems, and there is still a lot to be done in some corners and ends. Opposite to The Verge two of the Steam deck designers have now commented on the further plans and some of them give hope.
But if you are already lurking for a Steam Deck 2, you will be disappointed for the time being. Although there are two main aspects at Valve, namely battery performance and screen, but also the unsatisfactory attachment of the battery, high on the to-do list. However, improvements in performance are not to be expected for the time being.
Right now, the fact that all Steam decks can play the same games is extremely valuable for developers to know what to aim for. The designers anticipate that this one power level will remain for a little while longer, and only consider changing the power level if a significant gain is expected.
An update of the BlueTooth audio can be expected a little sooner. The currently used high-quality streaming codec currently leads to significant audio lags. Valve wants to make an update available to switch to a “worse” mode to reduce lag.
On the software side, a few innovations can be expected anyway. These include sharing per-game settings profiles with other Deck users, more game-specific performance optimizations, a new audio mixer that allows independent control of game, music, and chat volume, and the introduction of legacy mobile games previously only available on smartphones could be seen.
Interestingly, on a sideline, Valve has confirmed its interest in developing a new Steam controller. The first Steam Controller was shelved in 2019, as interest was ultimately limited and most players now use the Xbox and Playstation console controllers. However, the topic is not a priority for Valve, since all hardware resources are focused on the Steam Deck and a revival of the Steam Machines once considered is not currently an issue either.