Valve Signals Next-Gen Steam Deck Won't Arrive for Another 2 Years

Valve is just as surprised as you by those colossal Steam hits that seem to appear out of nowhere, as the company behind PC gaming’s biggest storefront releases a 25-minute video detailing just how it uses both player habits and bespoke curated segments to link you up with your next favorite game.

Ever wonder what it takes to get your game featured on the front page of Steam? Valve is finally ready to share answers. In a new video hosted by Steam business team representative Erik Peterson, the company breaks down the difference between algorithmic and curated sections of the Steam Store, providing guidance on how developers can make themselves visible to players who might want to check out their game.

While Valve has continuously and categorically ruled out the possibility of an immediate Steam Deck successor, this hasn’t stopped it from tinkering with the device’s existing hardware configuration. Now, a recently discovered document may suggest that a further refresh of its handheld PC could be on the cards.

If you don't yet have a Valve Steam Deck to call your own, now might not be the time to consider fixing that by treating yourself to a new handheld gaming system. Because if you do, it might turn out that you bought the old model pretty soon.

Documents submitted to regulators suggest that Valve is already working on a new Steam Deck model, as fans scan over some of the scarce details on the company's latest project. This suggests that, as we approach the Steam Deck's second birthday, Valve has its mid-gen refresh in mind, possibly giving the console a boost in specs, even if it doesn't replace it entirely.

Valve is well known for keeping any information about its hardware plans very tightly under wraps, to the point where you might as well hire the world's best psychic to forecast when something new is on its way. But never underestimate the sheer diligence of tech enthusiasts, especially the likes of Brad Lynch, who's spotted some interesting snippets of potential changes or updates for the Steam Deck.

In Phantom Liberty’s Lucretia My Reflection, President Myers must be escorted to safety through the tunnels of Dogtown. After reaching a fork, there’s the chance to make progress through a room with security cameras and a steaming hot pipe. The issue is, there is no way either you or the president will walk under that pipe without burning to death. This triggers a puzzle to find a valve around the area and use it to stop the steam from flowing through the pipes. That way, you can both get around this door safely.

Class goes back in session at the Aguefort Adventuring Academy — Dimension 20’s Fantasy Fantasy High: Junior Year premieres this January. The announcement, made Tuesday on social media, marks the five-year anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons actual play show’s launch on Dropout. The announcement also included a CGI trailer, which we’ve embedded below.

When Valve first launched the Steam Deck, one of their selling points for the machine was that while it was console-like in some ways, it was still a PC with all the associated benefits. As such, many expected we’d see frequent PC-style updates to the Steam Deck hardware, but at least in that respect, the hardware has turned out to be a lot more console-like than predicted. We haven’t seen a major update in the Deck hardware since it was released early last year and we may not see on for some time.

If you’re waiting for a Steam Deck capable of running Starfield at a decent clip, you’re going to be waiting a while yet. Valve has said that a more powerful Steam Deck will arrive at the end of 2025 earliest, with no major performance upgrade expected in the meantime.

Valve has once again dropkicked the dreams right out of anyone hoping a whizzier, more powerful Steam Deck might be happening soon; it's now provided a clearer timeframe for what it considers to be the current Steam Deck's minimum life span, saying not to expect any kind of performance upgrade «in the next couple of years».

Valve has said that it wants to make a Steam Deck 2 but doesn't see it launching «in the next couple of years».