Gabe Newell Wants More Competition For Steam Deck, Sees "Long-Term" Growth For Handheld PCs

Establishing a new "product category" is important for Steam Deck's long-term survival.

[_SilverHawk_]

The steam deck is amazing and it would be good if Dell makes the alieanware ufo to compete in the handheld space. The handheld gaming market needs a lot of competition because Nintendos offering has been underpowered for years with minimal features. Hopefully there will be a better nvida shield handheld, portable playstation and other handheld gaming systems

[JBit92]

Agreed - that Alienware UFO prototype looked pretty impressive.

[Vegamyster]

Nintendo chose to make a slim/sleek console that's light but had to underclock the hardware quite a bit so it could have decent battery life & thermals in that form factor, they could easily make something the size of the Steam deck which is over double the weight that would make full use of the current Tegra chip with a sizable performance boost but that's not really the appeal to the average consumer if they sales are any indication.

The only real threat to Nintendo in the handheld/hybrid space needs to come from Sony or Microsoft who would need to make dedicated software with similar sleek hardware that the mainstream gamer will want which i can't see either of them being interested in doing that, it's risky and making anything small and powerful quickly jacks the price up.

[masterfox]

At that starting price point it will be slow start I think, Gabe needs to open its eyes wider in order this new handheld take the handheld market by storm and finally put aside the old thing called Switch ughhh, some will say Im exaggerating but Valve has a big opportunity here to take a big market share from the Switch, and that reason is because is an original Valve product with a true original APU (one architecture) , is not like those Steam machines from the past that were outsourced to other PC manufactures like ibuypower, gigabyte or Alienware.

I have a hunch but I think Sony will come back with a new device handheld with similar functions cause of Valve, Steam Deck Vs PSP 2 that would be awesome!, I will buy them both for sure :D

[MadLad]

Sony proved that they'll drop a product the moment it doesn't sell like hotcakes, like the Vita.

I highly doubt they're going to enter the handheld market again anytime soon. Sad, being the Vita was a great device on its own.

[specialguest]

You have no clue if you think the Steam Deck isn't already selling at a loss at that starting price. The amount of money spent on the tooling itself is ridiculous. This is before any hardware added. Tooling is the process of designing and engineering the tools that are necessary to manufacture parts or components. With the pretty impressive hardware they managed to put in a handheld form that is an actual PC at a starting price of $399, you are seriously clueless. Did you know the severely outdated Switch is still selling for $299? Hell the hardware was actually considered lowend even for 4 years ago when it released. Gtfo of here!

[Vits]

There are already a couple of options in the market. Devices like the GPD Win, AYA NEO, ONE XPLAYER and the OneGx1 are already on the market. What it needed though is a big player that can achieve that form factor for a reasonable price and Valve is provided that.

[-Hermit-]

I wonder if this is Valve's main objective, because I am wondering why they of all companies would suddenly push a device like this.

Maybe it's just the beginning of Steam being pushed onto handheld devices.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Valve's main goal is to promote Steam in any way, shape or form. Keep subscribers to it connected. And that's GAMERS and DEVELOPERS so that they continue the money train. One way was PC gaming and creating the store. Another way was VR. Which lead right back to the store. And this portable is another. Leads right back to Steam.

It's not about Valve making games. It's so rare between releases, that we know they're not about that anymore. Valve has only made one real game lately. But Alyx was to promote Steam in my opinion. Not a start for them to make games consistently again. That's done.

It's all about reoccurring revenue from Steam. And Valve's biggest sales will come from Steam users and those who want a portable not controlled by Nintendo who takes their time on updating hardware.

It's an excellent looking device. But it's nothing to me as I'm a home console gamer mostly. I don't use Steam. So I'm not the target user. It also doesn't do VR. And I've gone through portables over the years before my tablet or my phone. They ended up in a drawer. Still there like my Nomad and Gameboy Advance. Except for the controls being built in compared with my Red Samurai Bluetooth controller. Emulation? I do that on my devices already. And when I'm away or on a vacation, the last thing I want to be doing is gaming. I want to enjoy the places, the food and the people. Gaming is great. But I don't need it everywhere I go. And even with emulators on my phone or tablet, I just don't use them much as before when I was younger. I just thought it was cool to fool my device to think it was something else. Like a Dreamcast or SNES.

But it's just a device to push Steam and royalties from Steam sales. Valve will say It's to open up portable gaming. But the reality is staring us in the face. It's about money and keeping Indie developers close that ran to Nintendo.

[Doge]

Damn dude you solved the biggest mystery in history right here. GG 👏

[MadLad]

A company investing in a product in order to make profit??!

*gasp*

[Elronza]

This is exactly why I ordered the 512 gb model. Nintendo needs to get a kick in the rump for that switch oled model. Yes I do own a switch v2, but I know only healthy competition; can make Nintendo do better than lackluster offerings.

[OhReginald]

I think a lot of people will be disappointed by this. There's lots of big games that won't be playable on this handheld like apex legends, pubg, and more.

[IanTH]

Yeah, though given the audience for this device - at least initially - those who are interested enough would be savvy enough to install Windows and avoid the Linux/Proton issues entirely. That said, Valve has said this is a new version of SteamOS, and it does sound like it has improved Proton game compatibility, so we'll see on that front.

[-Hermit-]

Why would anybody want to play those games on the Steam Deck? they would get absolutely slaughtered.

[silvacrest]

I have zero interest in nintendo but they deserve credit for still pushing handhelds, but i'm glad valve and potentially others will push higher end handhelds since nintendo has no intention to.

I really want x86 handhelds to take off, more competition is always better for the consumer.

[refocusedman]

IMO this is a better offering than the switch. You have a more robust and diverse library from the start and the reported power/quality of the device already trumps the switch. Not to mention its only 50 more than the newly announced OLED switch which does nothing to advance the hardware in a positive direction.

[IanTH]

I agree it's a better offering as well, and for many of the reasons you state. Not only do I have a massive library already, I mostly used the Switch as a handheld indie machine. Occasionally rebuying games I already owned, mostly getting others on sale and knowing they were stuck on that hardware. I'm a big fan of the fact I can pretty much just sell off my Switch now and use my existing Steam library instead. I wish Nintendo made more 1st party games I care about, and put their titles on decent sales even if it took 2-3 years.