Valve isn't ready to release Steam Deck 2, wants more power and performance

Valve engineer says the company requires more compelling next-gen performance from a new Steam Deck successor, and the tech just doesn't exist yet.

Valve isn't ready to release Steam Deck 2, wants more power and performance
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Senior Gaming Editor
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TL;DR: Valve is developing a next-gen Steam Deck but has delayed its release due to the lack of suitable high-performance chips. The company aims for a significant upgrade beyond current hardware capabilities, focusing on meaningful performance improvements rather than incremental gains, with a launch timeline still uncertain.

Valve's new hardware lineup didn't include a Steam Deck 2, and that's because the tech doesn't really exist yet.

Valve isn't ready to release Steam Deck 2, wants more power and performance 3
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Valve is working on a next-gen Steam Deck. That's already been confirmed. What we don't know, however, is when the Steam Deck 2 will come out. Just yesterday, Valve announced a new fleet of hardware coming in 2026, including a new Steam Machine that packs PC power in a console box. The Steam Deck 2 was missing from the new announcements because Valve isn't satisfied with the chips that are currently available--they want more horsepower for a Steam Deck successor.

In a recent interview with IGN, Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais says that the company simply wants to make a true next-gen device that one-ups the Steam Deck. So far, no current chips or technologies have been able to make that happen, but that hasn't stopped Valve from experimenting to figure out what their targets are.

"The thing we're making sure of is that it's a worthwhile enough performance upgrade to make sense as a standalone product.

"We're not interested in getting to a point where it's 20 or 30 or even 50% more performance at the same battery life. We want something a little bit more demarcated than that.

"So we've been working back from silicon advancements and architectural improvements, and I think we have a pretty good idea of what the next version of Steam Deck is going to be.

"But right now there's no offerings in that landscape--in the SoC landscape--that we think would truly be a next-gen performance Steam Deck."

Meanwhile, OEMs like ASUS are working closely with Microsoft, who is further working with AMD to help create custom AI-based silicon chips for an upcoming console-PC hybrid. The newly-released Xbox Ally X also features AMD's new AI-powered SoCs and Microsoft has promised big gains through further AI chip iteration.