Valve confirms there will be next-gen Steam Decks 'more open and more capable than the first version'

Valve Steam Deck thumbstick replacement
(Image credit: Valve)

Valve is going to do something with the Steam Deck that it hasn't done with any of the previous pieces of hardware it's created: follow it up. Celebrating the launch of the handheld PC in the Asian territories Valve has created an ebook ostensibly to introduce itself to the new audience.

The Future: more Steam Decks, more SteamOS

Valve

But it's not just that, it contains Valve's promises for the longevity of its Steam Deck and SteamOS platform, confirmation that this isn't just going to be a gen one piece of hardware that gets abandoned to the vagaries of time. 

Under the explicit headline: "The Future: more Steam Decks, more SteamOS" (via GamingOnLinux) it explains how those future Decks might be targeted.

"In the future," it reads, "Valve will follow up on this product with improvements and iterations to hardware and software, bringing new versions of Steam Deck to market.

"This is a multi-generational product line. Valve will support Steam Deck and SteamOS well into the foreseeable future. We will learn from the Steam community about new uses for our hardware that we haven’t thought of yet, and we will build new versions to be even more open and capable than the first version of Steam Deck has been."

This is something the company hasn't committed to with any of its previous forays into hardware, not the Steam Controller, Steam Machine, Steam Link, or Valve Index. There have been rumours and the odd found patent that hint to future adventures in VR, but no-one's expecting a new Steam Controller.

But, according to Valve, each of its previous hardware developments led them to the Steam Deck. This is where it's landed as a company, and it looks like it's found a natural home in the hardware. And maybe, finally, on the software side, too, when it does finally release SteamOS as a standalone installer that we can just jam onto our own desktop gaming PCs and forget about Windows for a while.

So, maybe the Steam Machine has had a follow up, after all.

Steam Deck review:Steam Deck availability: Steam Deck battery life:How loud is the Steam Deck?The emulation dream machine: The best budget gaming PC

Steam Deck review: Our verdict
Steam Deck availability: How to get one
Steam Deck battery life: The real battery life
How loud is the Steam Deck? Say what?
The emulation dream machine: The ultimate emulator
The best budget gaming PC: Price point hero

TOPICS
Dave James
Editor-in-Chief, Hardware

Dave has been gaming since the days of Zaxxon and Lady Bug on the Colecovision, and code books for the Commodore Vic 20 (Death Race 2000!). He built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 16, and finally finished bug-fixing the Cyrix-based system around a year later. When he dropped it out of the window. He first started writing for Official PlayStation Magazine and Xbox World many decades ago, then moved onto PC Format full-time, then PC Gamer, TechRadar, and T3 among others. Now he's back, writing about the nightmarish graphics card market, CPUs with more cores than sense, gaming laptops hotter than the sun, and SSDs more capacious than a Cybertruck.

Read more
Steam Deck with menu screen
The Steam Deck 2 doesn't need to happen because Valve will win either way (though I hope it does)
Valve Steam Deck OLED handheld PC
'The future of hardware at Valve is bright': Valve celebrates the success of Steam Deck and Steam OS
Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White
AMD announces more powerful Ryzen Z2 Series processors for future PC handhelds, but Valve says 'there is and will be no Z2 Steam Deck'
Steam Deck's loading throbber
SteamOS beta could be available to download to your handheld gaming PC of choice as soon as April
A Steam Deck with SteamOS running in desktop mode.
A new and improved desktop experience just landed on Steam Deck and SteamOS is readying 'support for non-Steam Deck handhelds'
The Lenovo Legion Go on a red background and playing Baldur's Gate 3.
Lenovo is showing off 'the future of handheld gaming' next month and Valve being involved could signal it uses SteamOS
Latest in Handheld Gaming PCs
A Steam Deck with SteamOS running in desktop mode.
A new and improved desktop experience just landed on Steam Deck and SteamOS is readying 'support for non-Steam Deck handhelds'
Lenovo Legion Go S playing Path of Exile 2
Lenovo Legion Go S (Windows) review
Valve Steam Deck OLED handheld PC
'The future of hardware at Valve is bright': Valve celebrates the success of Steam Deck and Steam OS
Still from a CNET video highlighting the Samsung concept device from MWC 2025
Samsung's handheld prototype delivers folding phone screens to Switch-like gaming hardware, and I am absolutely here for it
Xbox handheld
Microsoft is reportedly prepping a handheld Xbox for later this year with new consoles coming in 2027
OneXPlayer 2 pro on a table
I never thought a handheld PC bloated with Windows could replace my Steam Deck, but after gaming on an old OneXPlayer 2 Pro I can see now I judged it too harshly
Latest in News
CS 1.6 remade in CS: Legacy.
A gorgeous ground-up remake of Counter-Strike 1.6 is on its way to Steam, and one of the game's original creators says 'it really gives me old vibes'
Portal P3 pinball table
There's a new Portal game and it costs $12,500
MrBeast posing in front of a stack of cashing, promoting Beast Games season 2
Beast Games opens casting for season 2: MrBeast lost a ton of money on season 1 but apparently not enough that he won't do it again
Image for
Rise of the Ronin's PC troubles continue as players report disappearing saves on Steam
Former Treyarch studio co-head and Black Ops 3 director is heading up a new first-party PlayStation studio
Metro Exodus
'I want to raise this glass to our fans, to our community': 4A Games celebrates Metro 2033's 15th anniversary and hints at next Metro game