Valve announced the Steam Deck device on Thursday, a portable gaming PC that allows owners to access their entire Steam library on-the-go. The announcement followed rumors that suggested Valve was indeed working on some sort of mobile device that was said to be similar to a Nintendo Switch in style and design. Valve said the new Steam Deck system will be available to reserve on July 16th with shipping planned to start in December.
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For the design of the handheld gaming “console” itself, it looks like Valve is indeed taking after the Nintendo Switch to a degree. It features a similar shape but naturally features things you’d need to play PC games like two trackpads on either side of the device. Valve isn’t really referring to the device as a “console,” however, and is instead calling it a portable PC.
Introducing Steam Deck: powerful, portable PC gaming starting at $399. Designed by Valve, powered by Steam. Shipping December 2021.
Learn more at https://t.co/ZOTx3KUCVK and reserve yours tomorrow. #SteamDeck pic.twitter.com/jcgbaKfT9c
— Steam (@Steam) July 15, 2021
Whatever you want to call it, the main draw of the device is clear: You get to play your entire Steam library right within your hands instead of having sit in front of a traditional PC or laptop. Valve said that logging into the Steam Deck ensures that your entire Steam library will be present so that players can pick up where they left off if they transition to the handheld experience. All of the expected features supported by Steam like Steam Chat, Remote Play, the Steam Store, and more will also be present within the Steam Deck.
For those wondering how their games will play on the Steam Deck compared to their PC setups, the core specs can be seen below with more details found on the Steam Deck site.
Processor
- AMD APU
- CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
- GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32)
- APU power: 4-15W
RAM
- 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (5500 MT/s)
Storage
- 64 GB eMMC (PCIe Gen 2 x1)
- 256 GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4)
- 512 GB high-speed NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4)
As for pricing, the Steam Deck has three different options right now. The $399 version comes with 64GB of internal storage and a carrying case while the $529 version comes with 256GB of storage space, faster, storage, the case, and an exclusive profile bundle. The most expensive option is the $649 version which comes with 512GB of storage, the fastest storage, anti-glare glass, and an exclusive profile bundle, case, and a keyboard theme.
The Steam Deck will be available to reserve starting on July 16th with shipping starting in December.
