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