Valve announces Steam Deck - A portable gaming PC

Valve, the parent company of Steam, rocked the gaming community last week with their announcement of the Steam Deck - a handheld gaming machine. This will serve as an affordable, accessible entry into PC gaming for many, and will be a great way for PC gaming enthusiasts to take their games on the go.

As this is essentially a PC you can take anywhere, Valve confirmed that you can browse the internet on the Steam Deck, as well as do anything you can do on a Linux-based PC. In addition to being portable, the Steam Deck will have a dock, similar to Nintendo’s popular hybrid console. 

The dock enables players to connect to a TV or monitor. 

This is a huge, huge benefit for someone like me who wants a convenient way to play PC games while in the living room or bedroom. A big reason I hardly ever play PC games is because I spend a lot of time in an office chair facing a monitor for work, and that’s the last thing I feel like doing when I want to relax and play a video game. The Steam Deck solves that problem.

If you already use Steam on your PC, the Steam Deck will have all your games right there, ready to play. You can also use Steam Chat as you would on your computer. Remote play is supported, as well, allowing you to stream games from your PC or laptop to the Steam Deck if you don’t have time or storage to download them. Another awesome feature that the Switch does not currently have is Bluetooth support. This means you can connect any Bluetooth devices you may want to use, such as wireless earbuds or a wireless controller like an Xbox controller or DualSense.

There are three models of the Steam Deck - a 64 GB model for $399, a 256GB model for $529, and a 512GB model for $649. 

Unfortunately, preorders came and went, and it seems to be impossible to secure a preorder for the Steam Deck right now. The release date is currently unknown, with the official website stating that the 64 and 256GB models are expected to be available in Q2 2022, and the 512GB model is expected to become available in Q3 2022.

Learn more about the Steam Deck at store.steampowered.com/steamdeck.

What are your thoughts? Are you excited about the Steam Deck? Let me know on Twitter: @pixelsnplanners.