Valve explained what it wants to achieve with Steam Deck 2 and why it refuses to release new models every year

Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang spoke about Valve’s approach to releasing future iterations of the device in an interview with Reviews.org to coincide with the launch of the portable PC in Australia.

Image Source: The Verge

Let us remind you that Valve has never hidden its desire to release a conditional Steam Deck 2 in the future, but last fall it said that “in the next couple of years” there is definitely no need to wait for a successor.

According to Young, Valve wants to achieve a significant increase in performance in Steam Deck 2 without sacrificing battery life, but at this stage of technology development it is impossible to do this.

«We really want to wait for a technological leap in processing power without sacrificing battery life before we release the second generation of Steam Deck. We are interested in this and we are working in this direction,” Young assured.

Image Source: Valve

Valve is not going to follow the path of competitors who release new models of their Steam Deck counterparts every year: “This is important to us, and we are trying to make it very clear that we do not do annual [upgrades].”

«We’re not going to update every year. This makes no sense. And to be honest, we don’t think it’s very fair to consumers to come back so soon with a product that’s only slightly better than the last one,” Young explained.

The original Steam Deck model with LCD screen was released in February 2022. An updated version with a slightly larger OLED display and minor technical improvements launched in November 2023.