At least two users on Reddit have reported that they received Steam Decks hand-delivered by Valve's head honcho himself, Gabe Newell, complete with his signature on the included case.
User SeattleRainPidgeons, posting in r/Steam, claims to have seen Newell and a camera crew making a delivery to their neighbor's house. They greeted him, at which point he asked how many people lived in their house and then gave them signed Decks despite not having preorder reservations. I am happy for them, but also extremely jealous.
Another user by the curious name of bitfidler0 posted their account in the r/SteamDeck community, but had slightly worse luck. They were out all day with friends on a ski trip, and their wife accepted the delivery without really knowing who Newell was. This is what you get for planning outdoor leisure activities with your friends. On the plus side, bitfidler0 claims they did not have to pay for their preorder, and that they received a higher-spec version than they requested to boot.
- Gabe Newell is hooked on Stalker 2 and once he's got the fourth ending (!) will 'figure out what I'm going to play next'
- Gabe Newell's cult of personality is intense, but a Valve exec who worked with him says his superpower is how he 'delighted in people on the team just being really good at what they did'
Both accounts have existed for several years, and seem to be unrelated. Bitfidler0 posted a front door camera shot of GabeN himself, masked and a little blurry, but it certainly looks like the Valve boss. Another indication of these stories' veracity is that the signature on both cases does match a previous example of Newell's John Hancock shared on Reddit.
I wouldn't get your hopes up about the prospect of a deus ex Gabena fulfilling your Steam Deck dreams—this looks like a one-time promo event in the Seattle area. I will say though, my door will always be open if they decide to take this show on the road. Usually when a stranger rings my doorbell it's just a scammer pretending to be my energy company.
