Valve may make a second generation Steam Deck

Representatives of The Verge interviewed Steam Deck designers Lawrence Young and Pierre-Loup Griffis. They talked about what to expect from the next Steam Deck portable console.

Valve have confirmed that they are developing the next generation of the compact set-top box, but there were no details about it. Many were expecting a "Pro" version that would focus on high performance. The console developers have dispelled these assumptions and announced their slightly different intentions.

According to the designers of Steam Deck, the main advantages of the next generation of consoles should be an improved screen and increased battery life. When it comes to performance, one Pierre-Loup Griffeis called it one of the strong points of Steam Deck, since the ability to run many games from the library is a very good indicator.

Griffeis also said that Valve will look to improve performance in the future, but will do so when they realize that the improvement will bring the console to a whole new level of performance.

The creators of the console believe that it is better to focus on the experience of using this set-top box on the road, improving both the screen and the duration of the work.

The Steam Deck designers have also mentioned the possibility of a Steam Controller 2 release, but until then they want to do a good job on their handheld console first.

As for the Steam Deck, the developers are currently working on a sound mixer for game, music and chat to make it much more convenient for users to control sound sources and use the console. According to Valve, having the ability to switch between apps contrasts with the lack of an audio mixer.

Upcoming updates to the Steam Deck audio component will also need to fix a bug with a delay in the sound transmitted to Bluetooth headphones, Griffice said, but you should still not rely on such remote microphones. The reason for this was the preference given to sound quality, and not its low latency.

In the future, Steam Deck may have "share control/power settings" features. Thus, users who can achieve a good balance in the control layout in any game will be able to share the results with their friends and other players in the future to improve their user experience. In addition, users will be able to save settings in order to have Steam Deck in sync with PC gaming and gamepad settings there.

Most likely, settings can only be synchronized if you have a Steam Controller, which is perfectly combined with the Steam games in the library on the PC. The interaction between the Steam Controller and the Steam Deck is something that developers also want to achieve at a high level.

As for power, according to Valve, users will be able to adjust the power of resource usage in games, but without the ability to influence the level of graphics. They will also be able to share such results.

Valve designers said that the company is now working on fixing bugs with broken microSD. Many users are faced with the problem of breaking devices that store data. The creators of Steam Deck want to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. However, they warn users against using full formatting, as it harms the device, which cannot be said about quick formatting. According to them, it is also worth turning off the console before changing the SD card.

Among other innovations, it is worth noting the intentions of Steam Deck developers to transfer to the platform some mobile games or titles that were previously only on mobile devices and migrated to PC. According to the designers of the device, “Valve is absolutely interested if users understand that[withthearrivalofmobilegamesonSteamDeck]they will only get a touch screen.”

Valve said they are working on improving the graphical component. They were involved in improving and developing Vulkan graphics drivers, shader compilers, DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 implementations, and other technical issues. In addition, they are focusing on improvements to some games that are very popular with gamers on Steam Deck: Red Dead Redemption 2, Elden Ring, Halo Infinite, Forze Horizon 5 and others.

Previously, an update was released for the platform on The Witcher 3, intended for the next generations.

Steam Deck has gained a lot of popularity among gamers, but its sales cannot compare with what Nintendo is showing with its Switch device. The latter is said to have surpassed 114,000,000 copies sold.

Of the last 41 weeks, Steam Deck has been in the top sellers for 30 of them. At the moment, delivery of the device to the USA takes about two weeks.