Steam Deck: Developers Are Uncertain About The Future

Expert Verified By

Can Steam Deck Survive The Upcoming Games?

The Steam Deck is an incredibly innovative handheld gaming console. Valve learned all the right lessons from the Nintendo Switch and created a powerful handheld with no shortage of software compatibility.

Because the Steam Deck is compatible with many AAA releases, fans have been craving a second, more powerful version of the Deck for upcoming games. However, Valve believes the next Steam Deck will not come with significant hardware improvements.

As such, many fans are worried about the longevity of the Steam Deck. And it looks like game developers have similar concerns. In a recent survey from GDC, developers were asked about the viability of Steam Deck as a long-term gaming platform. 

Surprisingly, nearly 50% of respondents were unsure about the Steam Deck’s longevity.

Steam Deck Valve
Source: PCGamesN

As seen above, less than 20% believe the Steam Deck will not be viable long-term, while 36% believe in Valve’s latest handheld.

One reason for the skepticism could be Steam Deck’s hardware capabilities. While the Steam Deck packs impressive performance featuring an AMD RDNA 2-based GPU, games development will soon shift focus to target the current-gen consoles primarily.

Recent releases like Need for Speed Unbound can prove challenging for Steam Deck’s 4-core Zen 2 CPU. On the other hand, Steam Deck can handle demanding games like Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered and emulate consoles like the Xbox 360. 

With current-generation games becoming more popular in 2023 and beyond, Valve’s portable console could become outdated faster than anybody expects. Games like Dead Space Remake are built from the ground up to support the impressive PS5 and Xbox Series consoles and might push the Steam Deck to its limits.

Other survey questions indicate developers believe the Steam Deck is good but not revolutionary. This is not surprising since the Steam Deck has likely been inspired by the Nintendo Switch, although it improves significantly upon Nintendo’s ideas in many ways.

However, many developers are still optimistic about the Steam Deck. With the excellent variety of indie games and the extensive library of over 7100 playable or verified games, Steam Deck owners will have no shortage of games for a long while.

Read Next: Life Is Strange 2 Coming To Nintendo Switch In February

Was our article helpful? 👨‍💻

Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔

Gear Up For Latest News

Get exclusive gaming & tech news before it drops. Sign up today!

Join Our Community

Still having issues? Join the Tech4Gamers Forum for expert help and community support!

Latest News

Join Our Community

104,000FansLike
32,122FollowersFollow

Trending

STALKER 2 Dev Currently Has No Plans For A PS5 Port

GSC Game World Game Director revealed in an interview with Tech4Gamers that there are currently no plans for a PS5 Port.

Cronos: The New Dawn Concept Art Reveals Uncanny Similarities To Silent Hill 2 Remake

Bloober Team's upcoming project, Cronos: The New Dawn, will possibly have environments similar to Silent Hill 2, as concept art teases.

Ubisoft Skipped Unreal Engine 5 To Give Devs Artistic Freedom In AC Shadows, Says Technical Architect

Ubisoft has revealed that it skipped Unreal Engine 5 for AC Shadows because it couldn't give the developers their creative freedom.

Bungie Shrinking Further As Devs Moving To Other PlayStation Projects

Bungie's strategic partnership team has now become part of PlayStation's franchise development and portfolio strategy division.

PC Game Pass Could Be Coming To Steam, Suggests Rumor

A new leak suggests that PC Game Pass could be coming to Steam based on some developments in the last few hours.