Valve announces the Steam Deck

Just recently Valve announced the Steam Deck, a hand-held gaming device with the capability to play your entire Steam game library. This is huge. In the news, I largely see comparisons being drawn with the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo recently announced the Switch OLED, with a somewhat lukewarm reception. If Valve gets this right, this goes far beyond Nintendo Switch comparisons, though.

What is the Steam Deck?

The Steam Deck is Valve’s handheld gaming device. For a deep dive into the technical specifications, Digital Foundry performed a Steam Deck spec analysis, with some key takeaways:

• The Steam Deck is running SteamOS, Valve’s Linux-based operating system.
• The device is using regular PC architecture, an open platform. Yes, you could install Windows on it, if you wanted to.

Which games are supported?

Most PC games are still just targeting Windows natively. The Steam Deck will use the WINE-based middleware Proton which provides a translation layer for those games at near-native speeds.

ProtonDB provides some insight into the state of game support, and while it’s quite impressive, it does not cover 100% of games.

Particularly anti-cheat programs tend to be sensitive to non-standard ways of running games. Valve has indicated wanting to work with developers and specifically with anti-cheat software vendors to improve support.

I run Windows-only Steam games on a Linux laptop via Proton and it’s truly impressive how well it works, as it’s largely indistinguishable from native Linux support for most games. Except for some edge cases like custom launchers, Proton should be invisible to the player. Valve betting on the software to do the heavy lifting speaks volumes.

Valve’s Strategy Behind the Steam Deck

Valve, historically, has always looked at unique ways of generating value for its customers. They’ve delayed Half-Life 1 for a year to get it right. They had Team Fortress 2 ready to go, and instead shelved it for a decade, reinventing the art style into the unique-silhouette characters we know today. Even though what Team Fortress is today is a far cry from what it was upon its Orange Box release, I digress.

They’ve also been working to provide access to games outside of Windows PCs. We had the Steam Link, the Steam Controller, and Steam OS.

IGN interviewed Gabe Newell about the Steam Deck and he gave some clues about how they’re approaching this. He all but outright said that the Steam Deck is a huge step forward in Valve’s Platform strategy.

Valve’s competitors are other game stores primarily targeting PC. It’s EA’s Origin, Ubisoft’s UPlay, GOG. And above all, it’s Epic Games Store and their Fortnite-fueled free game giveaway that slowly builds huge digital collections for its users, while training them to go through the checkout process even if no payment is required.

So yes, the Steam Deck will likely be a great alternative to the Nintendo Switch, but Valve is playing the Platform game, which is what you do today if you operate a Marketplace and want to get ahead or stay ahead. From a Platform perspective, the goal is simple but much more high-level: Build the best marketplace for video games, connecting gamers and game developers.

Gabe indicated that the “low price point for the Deck was ‘painful’ but ‘critical’,” which could indicate that they’re not sold at profit. He continues “And it’s clearly going to be establishing a product category that ourselves and other PC manufacturers are going to be able to participate in. And that’s going to have long-term benefits for us. So that’s sort of the frame in which we’re thinking about this.” He only hints at it.

• It erodes the association of PC games implying Windows games. This is a win over Microsoft Games Store.
• Handheld PC Games are a solid step on Nintendo’s toes (Nintentoes?), but also a ding against every game store, notably Epic Games.
• The first-mover advantage allows Valve to set the de-facto industry standards for best practices to support its vast offerings

The Steam Deck is an open PC architecture. Valve encourages other PC makers to produce similar devices. In the end, Valve doesn’t care whether it or a third party is producing the actual devices since Valve controls the marketplace, which is Steam itself. As Gabe said, they’re establishing a product category. The device is just a means of seeding that category.

Impact on Gamers

For PC gamers, the Steam Deck is handheld gaming; a new form factor, and the ability to access their Steam library on the go.

I could even see it find usage in businesses where field agents have thus far relied on tablets, with productivity software being distributed on Steam. That sounds ridiculous right now, but software applications can already be purchased on Steam.

Impact on Game Developers

Developers that previously wanted to support handheld devices were limited to Nintendo Switch or Sony’s PlayStation Vita. For independent creators, that’s a hassle. Due to console licensing aspects including fees, supporting consoles have a certain barrier to entry.

Since the Steam Deck is based on an open architecture, it’ll be incredibly easy to support games without special console software development kits.

Explicit support for consoles such as Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft offer requires additional legalities, contractual obligations, as well as custom SDKs that can feel out of reach for an indie developer.

The ability to have a device that effectively eliminates the barrier to entry of creating a portable gaming experience is significant.

Getting a Steam Deck

The Steam Deck can be pre-ordered here through Valve’s Steam Store.

It’s worth noting that Valve is taking steps to prevent scalpers from buying and reselling them in bulk:

• One Steam Deck reservation per customer
• $5 fee due at time of reservation
• Steam accounts must be at least 48 hours old before they can place a reservation.

I’ve pre-ordered mine, but it looks like it’ll take a while before it’s a reality. With that, I look forward to 2022.