Being the “early entree crippled console” didn’t support this affordable, portable gaming machine down. Frankly, it’s my gadget of the twelvemonth acknowledgment successful nary tiny portion to the 90-plus updates Valve has shipped since its debut. But the gait of updates and reliance connected Linux tin marque it a volatile platform, too: Valve itself has occasionally introduced nasty caller bugs, and crippled publishers person occasionally broken compatibility with their ain updates.

Before I instrumentality a caller look astatine the Steam Deck for The Verge, I wanted to cognize what Valve’s intentions are for its future. To my surprise, Steam Deck designers Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais granted maine a wide-ranging interrogation — revealing not lone that they program to update the bundle indefinitely but besides that they’re inactive experimenting with hardware, too.

Here’s what we’ve learned.

The Steam Deck whitethorn ne'er beryllium “stable” similar a accepted console

“I don’t deliberation you should expect that,” says Griffais. “Stable successful presumption of having a large acquisition for people? Yeah, absolutely. But I deliberation we are ever going to beryllium pushing updates arsenic agelong arsenic there’s radical playing.”

For updates, the squad is chiefly moving disconnected 2 large lists, says Yang: “things we privation to fix, and things we inactive privation to make.”

“The bug database grows arsenic much radical get Steam Deck and we get much feedback astir things — and the diagnostic database benignant of stays the aforesaid size due to the fact that arsenic we adhd features, we get much features we privation to adhd based connected our ain acquisition and what we’re proceeding from customers,” helium says.

One of the astir breathtaking parts of being a Steam Deck proprietor is trying those caller features — similar the horizontal show overlay that precocious rolled retired successful the Preview ring, letting you support tabs connected framework rate, temperature, artillery life, and much utilizing the information of the surface that goes wasted successful immoderate crippled that runs letterboxed.

But Valve is besides alert that it’s shipped immoderate embarrassing bugs adjacent to its Stable ring, the 1 you’d mostly expect to conscionable work, truthful it’s been getting a small much cautious astir what it pushes out. Griffais says the squad has been moving to a monthly cadence for Stable updates and suggests things volition besides amended arsenic much Steam Decks rotation retired “because it’s lone a subset of users that opt into these much precocious update channels.”

It besides helps that updates download successful the inheritance now. “We’re aiming to marque the update process arsenic painless and creaseless arsenic possible... you conscionable reboot into them,” says Griffais.

Valve is making the artillery easier to replace

iFixit called artillery replacements “the Steam Deck’s Achilles heel.” It’s the 1 portion of the handheld machine that isn’t casual to region — which is unfortunate erstwhile you see that batteries are the astir evident deterioration constituent of immoderate portable computer.

I asked Valve: wherefore each the glue? Doesn’t your L-shaped artillery already person a bully L-shaped pouch to support it secure?

Here’s Griffais:

“You don’t privation a Steam Deck maraca, and you don’t privation a artillery perchance touching different important components and jostling them around,” adds Yang.

But Yang besides says that Valve’s intent is for everything to beryllium arsenic repairable arsenic possible, admits the glue isn’t ideal, and says the squad is already making it easier with caller hardware revisions. “We person rolled successful a alteration to the geometry of the adhesive, making the artillery easier to loosen,” says Yang. Hopefully, that caller signifier should marque it easier to pry.

The Steam Deck present ships with a Band-Aid for its noisy fan

Delta oregon Huaying? That was the question connected galore a Steam Deck owner’s caput erstwhile we came to find that some Steam Decks were shipping with a whinier instrumentality manufactured by Delta Electronics.

It was concerning capable that Valve decided to halt shipping immoderate systems with the Delta instrumentality for a time. “There was a play of clip wherever we were lone building Steam Deck with the Huaying fan,” says Yang. Valve made the Huaying instrumentality readily available from iFixit, too, if you privation to effort your ain casual repair. Yang confirmed to maine that the iFixit instrumentality “does not grounds that [whine] characteristic.”

But Valve has really resumed shipping the Delta fan, too, due to the fact that it present has “an engineered foam solution to trim instrumentality noise,” Yang tells The Verge. We haven’t tested it yet ourselves, but there’s bully crushed to judge it’d help: aboriginal on, the Reddit assemblage discovered that a fewer layers of cautiously applied electrical tape offered immoderate improvement. So did a bundle update that changed the instrumentality curve, but I inactive preferred the Huaying’s whoosh to the Delta’s whine aft trying some myself.

As of precocious October, owners tin cheque which instrumentality they person nether Settings > System > Model/Serial Numbers.

There whitethorn beryllium different hardware tweaks, excessively

While Yang says “most of our efforts are connected the bundle side” now, determination are different behind-the-scenes hardware tweaks beyond fans and artillery glue. “For example, the Steam and Quick Access button, we looked astatine improving the consciousness of those and I deliberation the result of that is already rolling retired to caller units” arsenic of August.

Valve hopes the Steam Deck volition animate caller Steam Boxes, excessively — but it astir apt won’t physique them itself

Before the Steam Deck, determination were Steam Machines, Valve’s failed effort to bring your gaming PC into the surviving room by offering gaming PC manufacturers a controller and aboriginal Linux support. Now that the Steam Deck is simply a success, volition it reboot that initiative? Maybe! Valve is inactive moving connected making the Deck’s SteamOS 3 disposable for different manufacturers’ PCs, and it hopes they’ll transportation the torch erstwhile that’s done.

“Once it’s wide available, not lone are we excited to spot different manufacturers making their ain handheld PC gaming devices, we’re excited to spot radical marque their ain SteamOS machines which could see tiny PCs that they enactment adjacent to their TV,” says Yang.

Griffais says that Valve is already investigating further concepts successful the surviving room, too, but cautions that “things are precise engaged with the Deck close present and we can’t beryllium everyplace astatine once.”

“We’re doing our ain experiments, but would besides emotion to enactment with third-parties to spot what they would person to bring to the array arsenic well,” helium says. Yang adds that the Steam Deck dock mightiness already beryllium “the missing link” for those seeking a surviving country crippled console. And, helium points out, the enactment that Valve enactment into UI scaling and third-party crippled controller support should beryllium transferable to anyone else’s Steam Box arsenic well.

Those rival AMD 6800U handhelds aren’t existent competition

The Steam Deck launched with the astir almighty GPU ever successful a handheld PC, but that won’t beryllium existent for long: several companies are sticking AMD’s 6800U laptop chip into their machines for notably much performance. But that doesn’t signifier Valve, partially due to the fact that the squad thinks its customized Aerith SoC is mode much powerfulness efficient.

“The show level you get betwixt 8 and 12 watts, which is benignant of the saccharine spot successful presumption of efficiency... I don’t deliberation you’ll spot off-the-shelf offerings based connected mainline notebook merchandise lines importantly outperforming that successful possibly a fewer generations,” says Griffais.

For example, ETA Prime precocious showed that the upcoming Aya Neo 2, which houses a 6800U, is notably much almighty successful an apples-to-apples test. But it besides easy drew 40W of full strategy powerfulness compared to the Steam Deck’s 29W oregon so. That’d beryllium capable to drain the Steam Deck’s artillery successful a azygous hour, though Aya’s pricey handheld does see a larger artillery than Valve’s.

The different crushed Valve doesn’t spot them arsenic competition, though, is due to the fact that they could easy beryllium partners, too. “We really privation to enactment with them to marque definite that, if they privation to usage SteamOS oregon connection a SteamOS based alternative, that tin beryllium done,” says Yang.

A second-gen Steam Deck is coming — but possibly not a “Pro”

Valve has repeatedly confirmed that the Steam Deck is simply a “multi-generational product” and caller versions are connected the way. What volition they include? When I asked Yang and Griffais for the symptom points they wanted to code successful a sequel, they had astir identical answers: surface and artillery life.

What astir performance? Like Nintendo — which has repeatedly chosen not to summation the show of the Nintendo Switch contempt having the technology to marque a alleged “Switch Pro” — Valve is likewise weighing whether to support the handheld’s show accordant for now.

“Right present the information that each the Steam Decks tin play the aforesaid games and that we person 1 people for users to recognize what benignant of show level to expect erstwhile you’re playing and for developers to recognize what to target... there’s a batch of worth successful having that 1 spec,” says Griffais.

“I deliberation we’ll opt to support the 1 show level for a small spot longer, and lone look astatine changing the show level erstwhile determination is simply a important summation to beryllium had,” helium adds.

Valve wants a Steam Controller 2

“I deliberation it’s apt that we’ll research that due to the fact that it’s thing we wanted arsenic well. Right now, we’re focusing connected the Deck, truthful it’s a small spot of the aforesaid happening arsenic the microconsole question: it’s decidedly thing wherever we’d beryllium excited to enactment with a third-party oregon research ourselves,” helium says.

Valve is moving connected an audio mixer for game, music, and chat

Shortly aft its February launch, Valve added an app switcher truthful you tin unfastened 2 apps astatine a time, but there’s inactive nary casual mode to equilibrium their audio — say, by turning down your crippled measurement truthful you tin perceive friends successful Discord oregon leveling your Spotify euphony truthful it blends — alternatively than interferes — with your game.

“We person been processing the exertion needed to bash that,” says Griffais, adding that the institution needed to tweak components of the Linux audio stack to marque it work. “You tin power the audio measurement and duck the measurement of definite applications without affecting the full system, and we’ll beryllium rolling that retired to Deck astatine immoderate point.” Griffais says the adjacent measurement is to fig retired the close UI.

They’re fixing the Bluetooth audio lag — but don’t number connected Bluetooth mics

While you tin brace Bluetooth headphones to the Steam Deck, it’s not ever a large gaming experience. The Deck doesn’t enactment their microphones, and Valve defaults to a high-quality (rather than low-latency) codec that tin present a lot of delay.

But Valve says it’ll yet fto you take your Bluetooth illustration and codec successful gaming mode and is astatine slightest looking into Bluetooth mics arsenic well.

“Bluetooth illustration / codec enactment enactment is ongoing for the game-mode broadside of things – that said, you tin presently alteration this mounting successful desktop mode and it volition transportation over,” writes Yang. “We are inactive looking astatine Bluetooth microphone support, but owed to certification, quality, instrumentality switching issues, we inactive urge utilizing either a wired microphone oregon the built-in microphone.”

Want games to modulation seamlessly betwixt Deck and desktop? Tell your developers

If you enactment your Steam Deck to sleep, you should be capable to prime up wherever you near disconnected connected your desktop PC and vice versa. But usually, you can’t.

“Ultimately it’s going to beryllium up to developers to fig retired if and erstwhile they privation to adhd that functionality,” says Griffais erstwhile I inquire erstwhile we tin expect games to clasp the caller Dynamic Cloud Sync feature that automatically syncs your unreality prevention before the Deck goes down for a nap.

“It’s not thing we’re aggressively pushing for,” helium adds. “We’re not making it portion of the Deck Verified program, for example, and we person nary plans to alteration that astatine the moment.”

Valve mightiness fto Steam Deck owners stock per-game powerfulness profiles but astir apt not graphics settings

One of the fantastic things astir the Steam Deck — and the aged Steam Controller — is that you tin easy download full customized power schemes that marque PC games consciousness astatine location connected a gamepad. The assemblage has been anxious for Valve to connection a akin mode to stock per-game graphical settings, too, peculiarly aft Famitsu published an interview that suggested Valve was considering the idea.

Well, Valve considered it, but Griffais says it’s “a monolithic undertaking that I don’t deliberation we’re truly looking into earnestly close now.” What it mightiness bash archetypal — oregon alternatively — is fto Steam Deck owners stock their per-game powerfulness profiles, including surface refresh rate, the framework limiter, the GPU clock, and the wattage of the chip. Those profiles are thing you tin prevention locally connected your Deck arsenic of an update earlier this year, and helium says it would “be beauteous doable for america to grow that further and marque it truthful you tin stock the configurations with the community.”

Valve does fto games observe that they’re moving connected Deck and aboveground their ain graphical presets for the handheld.

Valve wants your busted microSD cards, conscionable to beryllium safe

I destroyed 3 microSD cards aboriginal connected portion investigating the Steam Deck, but that astir apt won’t hap to you: Valve says it fixed the immense bulk of issues backmost successful May erstwhile it changed however it formatted flash storage.

When I constituent retired that I’ve inactive seen a fewer Redditors complaining, Yang expands: “We’re inactive connected the lookout, we’re keeping way of it, we’re trying to person radical nonstop microSD cards if they person the issue... but the reports we’re getting by and ample are conscionable looking similar extremity of life,” helium says, referring to however flash retention tin deterioration retired if it gets overwritten excessively galore times.

Valve present runs a speedy format alternatively than a afloat format erstwhile you commencement utilizing an SD paper to store games, and it says the issues “mostly disappeared” with that 1 change. And portion I’ve inactive seen immoderate Redditors complain, Yang says the squad genuinely wants to perceive from radical with busted cards “to marque definite that we tin code the occupation completely.”

Valve says it’s “safest” to unopen down the console earlier swapping SD cards but that they should besides beryllium hot-swappable if they’re not successful use. “If you’re not doing thing similar moving games disconnected of it, oregon penning bits to it similar downloading updates, it’s good to propulsion it retired and swap it in,” says Yang.

Valve mightiness bring erstwhile mobile games to the Deck

Some publishers person been asking Valve whether it would beryllium consenting to big touch-only games they’d ne'er bothered to enactment connected PC, says Griffais. “They asked us, is this thing you’d beryllium good having connected Steam? Can we conscionable propulsion that?” He says Valve is perfectly interested, arsenic agelong arsenic it’d beryllium wide to Steam shoppers that they’d beryllium getting a touchscreen-only experience. “I deliberation we’d person to enactment a small spot connected the store and the messaging astir that.”

Valve whitethorn beryllium straight liable for making your favourite crippled tally better

We’ve seen it with Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption 2, Halo Infinite, and more: Valve is actively moving to hole circumstantial games for the Steam Deck itself. Griffais and Yang archer maine that Valve spent years processing its ain Vulkan graphics drivers, shader compilers, DX11 and DX12 implementations, and OS codification in-house, and that means it doesn’t person to workplace retired fixes to the crippled publishers.

“To immoderate extent, we’re ever looking astatine a circumstantial crippled for 1 crushed oregon another,” says Griffais. He says Valve spent six months connected Halo Infinite, excessively — “We fundamentally had to invent caller Vulkan features for that crippled to get supported” — and thinks the squad whitethorn beryllium capable to amended Forza Horizon 5 as well, perchance reducing the rubberband-like stutter that players person been reporting.

Valve is inactive pushing connected anti-cheat

If an online multiplayer crippled doesn’t enactment connected the Steam Deck, there’s typically 1 elemental crushed — the game’s anti-cheat strategy stops it successful its tracks. While Valve has worked things retired with the biggest anti-cheat providers, Destiny 2 and Fortnite are inactive snubbing the Deck altogether.

But that doesn’t mean Valve isn’t making advancement — Griffais and Yang accidental it’s inactive actively moving connected enactment for Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Fall Guys, as conscionable 2 examples. It expects them to some yet beryllium playable connected the Steam Deck — though it whitethorn request immoderate past tweaks from Epic. That’s due to the fact that Epic owns Easy Anti-Cheat, which The Master Chief Collection uses, and it besides owns Mediatonic, the developer of Fall Guys.

Apex Legends and 7 Days to Die were besides enabled months agone — 2 examples of fashionable games that were missing from the Steam Deck astatine launch.

The Steam Deck was — and is — a distributed effort

How galore radical built the Steam Deck? Well, Valve isn’t a emblematic company, and the Steam Deck seemingly wasn’t a accepted project, adjacent for Valve. While Valve’s ain 20–30 idiosyncratic hardware squad spent 2 years designing the existent gadget in-house, and it pulled successful different parts of the company, too, Griffais says the institution is besides straight paying much than 100 open-source developers to enactment connected the Proton compatibility layer, the Mesa graphics driver, and Vulkan, among different tasks similar Steam for Linux and Chromebooks.

“There’s a larger strategy effort to coordinate each these products and acceptable up benignant of an wide architecture, to marque definite they tin assistance PC gaming exertion thrive successful a Linux-based situation that is not truly the people level for each those games,” helium says.

Valve won’t beryllium talking astir Steam Deck income

(Zoom successful and you’ll spot “1 million!” printed atop the cake; 2 ex-Valve developers mentioned it connected societal media.)

But Yang tells maine the company’s not sharing numbers arsenic a wide regularisation — and I ideate immoderate fig would airy successful examination to, say, the Nintendo Switch, which has sold 114 cardinal units arsenic of September 2022. For now, Yang would lone corroborate “hundreds of thousands” of income arsenic of August, not counting immoderate further $5 reservations that were inactive successful the queue.

It wasn’t until October that the institution caught up with those reservations and enactment the strategy connected wide sale. “Hundreds of thousands” besides wouldn’t see immoderate income successful Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, wherever Valve has lone conscionable begun taking deposits for the console. Nintendo sells nearly arsenic galore handhelds successful Japan alone arsenic it does crossed the entirety of Europe, truthful it’ll beryllium absorbing to spot if Valve’s strategy makes a splash there.