On Thursday, Valve officially announced the Steam Deck OLED, an upgraded model of the original Steam Deck. While it’s not a full Steam Deck 2, it’s still a significant improvement over the version of the handheld PC that was released in February 2022.
In an interview with IGN, Valve’s Jay Shaw says that Steam Deck 2 is still a ways away from happening.
“I don’t know. It’ll be a while,” Shaw said. “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 [performance] leap.
“We’re very, very, very proud of this version of Steam Deck and this is it. This is the one that we’re the most happy with and we think customers will be too.”
He continued by saying that the idea of a Steam Deck 2 is always something the designers at Valve are thinking about. It’s something that is being discussed and brainstormed but reiterated that the new Steam Deck OLED is the device they want to release right now.
“So we’re thinking about Steam Deck 2 at all times, but I think we’re so satisfied here that this is really the kind of high end of what we wanted to do,” he said. “One thing we did get in was, you might talk about it separately, but we were able to do that limited edition with the fun translucent shell. I’ve been waiting for that the whole time. That was my number one request is can we please, please make a spicy version.”
The new Steam Deck OLED models, which launch November 16, feature a 1200×800 HDR OLED screen, a smaller APU, longer battery life, Wi-Fi 6e, and more.
Are you going to pick up a new Steam Deck OLED model or just wait until the eventual Steam Deck 2, whenever Valve decides to release it? For more Insider Gaming, check out just how well Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to do five years after its launch.
