Why the Steam Deck 2 Is not Coming Anytime Quickly

Like an irritated father or mother, Valve has reiterated many times that it received’t make a Steam Deck 2 till you cease asking about it. Whereas there are a number of new handheld PCs many occasions extra highly effective than the growing older Steam Deck, Valve isn’t simply searching for a mere specs enhance. The expertise that can allow the following period of handheld gaming is on the best way, however it’s going to have much less to do with core counts on the newest and biggest chips and extra to do with upscaling software program which will lastly unlock a real console-like expertise on the go.

After Valve launched a complete new household of gaming {hardware} within the type of the Steam Machine console/PC hybrid, the Steam Frame VR headset, and a brand new Steam Controller, the following query hovering on each gamer’s lips was a couple of sequel to the favored Steam Deck OLED. Varied Valve engineers successfully stated the identical factor to a number of information retailers: the expertise isn’t there but. The following handheld would want to have the identical energy vary, weight, and battery life so it may promote for roughly the identical value.

Valve software program engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais told IGN that Valve doesn’t care a couple of “20, 30, and even 50% extra efficiency on the similar battery life.” The makers of Steam appear to think about there can be a future SoC, or system on a chip, that makes such large architectural developments that the following Steam Deck may deliver straightforward AAA gaming proper to your fingers. That is sensible when you think about what’s on the horizon and what we learn about PlayStation’s supposed upcoming handheld, dubbed “Canis.”

Look to 2027 for the way forward for gaming handhelds

Latest leaks from dependable AMD rumormonger Moore’s Law is Dead defined how Sony is engaged on a dockable PlayStation handheld akin to the Nintendo Switch 2. This gadget will run on AMD’s unreleased RDNA 5 GPU structure, which is quicker than immediately’s present RDNA 4. It could be highly effective sufficient to run many PS5 video games natively. Extra importantly, it is going to be capable of run a extra superior model of AMD’s hardware-specific FidelityFX Tremendous Decision (FSR) 4, an upscaling expertise that takes frames run at decrease decision and bumps them to a better decision whereas protecting the improved efficiency. AMD hosts hardware-agnostic variations of FSR, like FSR 3 and FSR 3.5, however FSR 4 was a large enchancment after we noticed it on the corporate’s newest GPUs.

We received’t see any signal of Canis till at the very least 2027, in keeping with Moore’s Legislation. Intel additionally has new Panther Lake chips incoming, together with a version with 12 Xe3 GPU cores that’s particularly promising for future kickass gaming handhelds. We don’t know what Valve thinks about Intel’s chips, however for now, it and each different console maker are sticking with AMD. The Steam Body is operating on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a cell chip that received’t essentially be highly effective sufficient for AAA gaming by itself. Nonetheless, it’s additionally operating a brand new emulation layer known as Fex, which may show to be a boon for any future chipmakers who need to make a strong ARM-based SoC for handhelds.

Valve is right that the true “generational leap” in efficiency and energy effectivity that the corporate is searching for hasn’t arrived, judging by this 12 months’s slate of handhelds. It most likely received’t be right here in 2026, both. The issue with handheld PCs is that the ability calls for of higher-end chips would require bigger batteries and drive up prices. The most recent handhelds sporting the AMD Ryzen Z2 Excessive chip allow higher efficiency with greater TDP, or thermal design energy. Nonetheless, these new handhelds will drain any gamer’s pockets. Essentially the most highly effective model of the Lenovo Legion Go 2 prices $1,350 and the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X calls for $1,000. These units have sufficient juice to play some demanding video games natively, however they’re not too a lot better than the Steam Deck when you think about their price.

Valve’s Steam Deck, which begins at $450 for the LCD model, nonetheless has the perfect bang for the buck amongst handheld PCs, regardless of operating on outdated AMD Zen 2 structure. It received’t play all the newest AAA video games at their peak, nevertheless it’s greater than sufficient for smaller indie titles, and it’s grow to be my favourite strategy to stream games through Nvidia’s GeForce Now. A Steam Deck 2 wants to supply greater than only a new strategy to play demanding titles on the transfer. Valve is clearly considering making a gaming {hardware} ecosystem that may rival PlayStation and Xbox. In that means, it’s higher off ready for one thing to come back alongside that non-PC players can really afford.