Steam Deck 2 Awaits Next-Gen Chips, Valve Confirms
▼ Summary
– Valve says portable gaming hardware hasn’t advanced enough yet to justify creating a Steam Deck 2.
– The company wants a significant performance improvement at the same battery life before releasing new hardware.
– Current System on Chip offerings don’t meet Valve’s standards for next-generation Steam Deck performance.
– While newer handhelds like the ROG Ally X show performance gains, they achieve this with larger batteries.
– The ROG Ally X’s battery drains in about two hours during intensive gaming despite its 50% larger capacity.
For gamers eagerly anticipating a more powerful Steam Deck 2, the wait continues as Valve confirms it is holding out for next-generation chips that can deliver a substantial leap in performance without sacrificing battery life. While competitors have released newer handhelds, Valve’s engineers emphasize that current hardware advancements don’t yet meet their strict criteria for a true generational upgrade.
Valve Software Engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais recently explained the company’s cautious approach. He stated that a minor performance increase, even up to 50 percent, would not be enough to justify launching a new model. Instead, the team is focused on identifying silicon and architectural improvements that offer a clear, meaningful step forward. Griffais noted that while Valve has a solid vision for what the next Steam Deck should be, no existing System on a Chip (SoC) currently available provides the next-gen performance they are targeting.
This perspective might seem surprising given the rapid progress in portable gaming devices. For example, the recently launched ROG Ally X features an eight-core AMD Zen 5 processor, which is noticeably more powerful than the Steam Deck’s four-core Zen 2 chip. The newer device can handle many modern games at 1080p with smooth frame rates, outperforming the original Steam Deck in several demanding titles.
However, Griffais specifically highlighted that Valve’s goal is to achieve these performance gains while maintaining the same battery life. The ROG Ally X, despite having a battery 50 percent larger than the Steam Deck’s, still depletes its power in roughly two hours when running intensive games in Turbo mode. This illustrates the challenge of balancing raw power with energy efficiency, a balance Valve is unwilling to compromise for a marginal upgrade.
(Source: Ars Technica)
