Valve recently announced the Steam Deck OLED, a lighter version of its gaming handheld equipped with Wi-Fi 6E and a longer battery life. However, as with the Nintendo Switch when it received its OLED model, one has to ask: What about a true successor to the Steam Deck? What about the Steam Deck 2?
When asked by IGN how long it would take, designer Jay Shaw said, “I don’t know. It’ll be a while. I think it’ll be quite a while. We don’t have any kind of set date. I think we’re going to wait for the technology to present itself in a way that we find interesting and for the team to really want to make that leap. We’re very, very, very proud of this version of Steam Deck, and this is it. This is the one we’re the most happy with, and we think customers will be too.”
He also noted that the team is “thinking about Steam Deck 2 at all times,” but that it’s also satisfied and “this is really the kind of high end of what we wanted to do.” While a successor is likely, it could take a few years, echoing statements that Valve’s Pierre-Louis Griffais made last September.
He felt the developer was in a “pretty sweet spot” in playing all the newest titles this generation. He did clarify that the company is “working with developers on future releases” and that feedback is monitored. For now, “I think it has been pretty good on the horsepower front.”
The Steam Deck OLED is out on November 16th, with a 512 GB NVMe SSD variant costing $549.00 and a 1 TB NVMe SSD variant retailing for $649.00, while the current LCD model’s price drops to $399. Stay tuned for more details and updates on the handheld in the meantime.