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[Forbes] Steam Deck Won’t Survive 2025 Without A Significant Upgrade

amigastar

Member
I feel like if the Switch can survive, the Deck should have no issues.

Steam Deck will still be pretty great 10 years from now, it's a solid device that runs 10,000s of games.
You just forget that the Switch had optimized games for it while the Steam Deck has to deal with better and better graphics.
 
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Magic Carpet

Gold Member
I would expect one around November 2026, because that's what the hardware designer at Valve hinted at when asked about a potential Steam Deck 2 back in November last year, about it being a truly generational upgrade, SoC-wise. Around 2 to 3 years, from then.

Till then, they would be happy to support devices like the ROG Ally with Steam OS.
Sell the Steam Deck 2 without an SSD, I'll just move my current one over. :) That should shave a few bucks off the MSRP.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
I don't know where this goes, but I want people to see it. So here you go:

GDRwLkFaMAAxsL5.jpg
 
Sell the Steam Deck 2 without an SSD, I'll just move my current one over. :) That should shave a few bucks off the MSRP.

What Valve mean by that, is that they want to make a Steam Deck 2 (like a PS6, new next generation CPU + new next generation GPU + new next generation ram) and not a Steam Deck Pro.

The 3rd party vendors like Asus, OneXPlayer, GPDWin etc, are your Steam Deck Pro's.
 

SyberWolf

Member
i am definitely waiting for a model with a faster igpu with hardware accelerated FSR for performance.
would not be surprised to see them release one in 1 or 2 years when looking at the PS5 pro hardware.
watch switch 2 also have AI accelerated upscaling but probably from nvidia.
 
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StereoVsn

Gold Member
We will see new devices from MSI, Lenovo, ASUS and others based on new chips fairly early next year I would think.

As far as Deck goes, not sure how much Valve is invested in producing more Deck hardware. They kicked the category into gear in the West and will be offering SteamOS now for other devices (Ally first).

IMO, They really don’t care as long as there is Windows alternative and also people use Steam. It works for them either way so I can easily see them waiting till RDNA4 hardware or just leaving it to others.

Remember Valve is actually a fairly small company by headcount. They can’t support everything under the sun.
 
I didn't read all that but the Steam Deck use case for me is not brand new AAA games and I thought that was pretty universal. Sure it's fun to put them to the test, but I'm mostly playing indies and games from 360 to previous generation. I'd love to see another Steam Deck but I'm in no rush.
 

Comandr

Member
I feel like if the Switch can survive, the Deck should have no issues.

Steam Deck will still be pretty great 10 years from now, it's a solid device that runs 10,000s of games.
There’s a colossal difference of an entire company pouring billions of dollars into supporting a device they made with games made specifically for it and …

A handheld computer running on hardware somewhat equivalent to a 10 year old PS4, trying to play today’s games.

The steam deck is a fantastic device, but mobile tech is moving at a lightning pace and the steam deck is going to be left way behind pretty soon, and without the benefit of exclusive games to keep its consumers locked in.
 

AngelMuffin

Member
We live in a world where Nintendo Switch, with outdated hardware at launch in 2017, is still going strong. A Steam Deck won't play the highest end UE5 games in 2025, but it's still a wildly useful game system. Tactical Breach Wizards is a PC exclusive, and excellent reason to own a Steam Deck.
I think that’s largely due to Nintendo’s first party offerings. I certainly wouldn’t own a Switch absent those games.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
There’s a colossal difference of an entire company pouring billions of dollars into supporting a device they made with games made specifically for it and …

A handheld computer running on hardware somewhat equivalent to a 10 year old PS4, trying to play today’s games.

The steam deck is a fantastic device, but mobile tech is moving at a lightning pace and the steam deck is going to be left way behind pretty soon, and without the benefit of exclusive games to keep its consumers locked in.

Why does it have to play today's games? Stuff like Persona 5 Royale runs phenomenally well on the Steam Deck, along with tons of PS4-generation games. I think assuming everyone has played every game in existence that has ever been released and only new games matter is a wrong assumption. There's millions and millions of hours of gaming the device can run perfectly, from MS-DOS through the Switch era.
 
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I think valve has steam deck 2 in the works, but won’t be ready until second half of next year, they are probably going release steam os for all manufacturers, this could have profound impact to pc gaming and console markets, as more companies release handhelds and consoles with steam os, and exclusive games will become even more important to platform holders,
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
According to video game journalists.....alot of them do.
No need to listen to those hacks.


Looks like a mix of old and new. I'm surprised to see Wukong on number 1, wonder if the Steam Deck is that popular in China.
 

Hohenheim

Member
It’s not even debatable. Even with the Hori joycons on my Switch the Steam Deck is way more comfortable.
I tried playing on a Switch a while back, after being used to playing on steam deck and ally for the last year... it was beyond terrible. The flat form factor and those joycons are hell.
I don't care too much about specs for the next Nintendo console, but for the love if god I hope they make it about as comfortable as the newer handhelds.
 

Comandr

Member
Why does it have to play today's games? Stuff like Persona 5 Royale runs phenomenally well on the Steam Deck, along with tons of PS4-generation games. I think assuming everyone has played every game in existence that has ever been released and only new games matter is a wrong assumption. There's millions and millions of hours of gaming the device can run perfectly, from MS-DOS through the Switch era.
No one wants to buy a new system so they can play games that old devices were already made for. It’s also a terrible marketing angle.

Here’s our brand new device! Enjoy games from 1980s to the late 2000s! Those games are still fun!

Oh. You’ve already played them?

Wait you still have a laptop or cellphone that can play those games already? Uh.. buy this because it’s new! For capitalism!

The fact that cyberpunk has a steam deck preset shows that developers want people playing new games on the steam deck. It also doesn’t change the fact that playing cyberpunk on the steam deck is a … subpar experience.

And other manufacturers like asus and GPD are racing ahead with new handhelds that will run circles around the steam deck, leading to a better gaming experience.
 
These kind of news from "journals" and "journalists" serve only one thing: Suck your money more. I'm sure majority of people here on NeoGAF already noticed but these kind of comments or etc. always play for your "consume(r) instict", deep down in your unconscious. They feed all this crap all the time to feed your unconscious so that when the time comes, you want a new product, and keep wanting a new product in certain time gaps whether it is really necessary to renew your old product or not.

I admit I personally do not give my Steam Deck enough time to play with it. I play indie or "not so powerful" games on it. That's why I bought it in the first place because I thought I will reduce my backlog like this. I still believe I will reduce my backlog :messenger_grinning_sweat:

So I simply refuse that Steam Deck won't survive 2025. Probably it will survive for me for a reaaaly long time.
 
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Valve needs to work on a geforce now like solution. Make it exclusive to the steam ecosystem. We all know they wont make more past the second iteration.
 

Kacho

Gold Member
We all know they wont make more past the second iteration.
We do? Can you elaborate?

No need to listen to those hacks.


Looks like a mix of old and new. I'm surprised to see Wukong on number 1, wonder if the Steam Deck is that popular in China.
What a beautiful spread. Every time I look at the top games played on Xbox I puke in my mouth.
 

lachesis

Member
I like my SteamDeck (LCD launch ver) - but I'm having so much trouble running older Falcom games. :(. Later ones tend to run okay - but that's a bummer for me.
Still trying to figure out how I run Ys Origins on it. There are so many solutions out there and trying out one by one... and it's pretty tiring as so far I haven't been able to run it at all, or run w/o fmv and audio glitches.
 

Holammer

Member
No need to listen to those hacks.


Looks like a mix of old and new. I'm surprised to see Wukong on number 1, wonder if the Steam Deck is that popular in China.
That's a good example of how developers screw over themselves when they don't follow best practices and add a launcher and other stuff that won't work with Steam Deck.
 

GoldenEye98

posts news as their odd job
Valve needs to work on a geforce now like solution. Make it exclusive to the steam ecosystem. We all know they wont make more past the second iteration.

Probably easier for Nvidia to buy Valve make Steam OS their platform for GeForce Now going forward
 

reinking

Gold Member
Significant upgrade but at what price? Rog Ally X just launched at $799. Zotac Zone is launching at $799. Like consoles, I think the handheld PC market is going to see a significant price adjustment. I hope Steam is able to keep the prices reasonable but I do expect them to increase over current OLED models.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
I think a performance increase would do wonders for this thing. it's close but many games like Tekken 8 and God of War have some trouble running on the Deck. Giving it that Z2 Extreme or a more optimized variant of it for battery life would be great.

Not everybody only uses the device for indies
 

Denton

Member
Literally tens of thousands of games across dozens of platform are playable on my steam deck. Even if some latest AAAs do not run great (or at all), Steam Deck will get a lot of use, since AAAs are just small part of the market (and frankly I prefer playing those on PC TV anyway).
 

mrcroket

Member
I think the people who write these types of threads or articles have not yet discovered the real deal and appeal of steam deck and are still blinded by "the AAAA experiences".
 

Minsc

Gold Member
No one wants to buy a new system so they can play games that old devices were already made for. It’s also a terrible marketing angle.

Here’s our brand new device! Enjoy games from 1980s to the late 2000s! Those games are still fun!

Oh. You’ve already played them?

Wait you still have a laptop or cellphone that can play those games already? Uh.. buy this because it’s new! For capitalism!

The fact that cyberpunk has a steam deck preset shows that developers want people playing new games on the steam deck. It also doesn’t change the fact that playing cyberpunk on the steam deck is a … subpar experience.

And other manufacturers like asus and GPD are racing ahead with new handhelds that will run circles around the steam deck, leading to a better gaming experience.

Only I'm not talking about games to the late 2000s, I'm talking about games still released today, but AAA games on Switch/PS4 level. Persona 5 is not late 2000s. Stuff like Star Ocean Second Story Remake, and hundreds if not thousands of games from the last few years all run great. There's nothing wrong with playing older games, and of course people want to still play them.
 
I sold mine for a ROG Ally X and i have to say that there are many days where i regret it. The OLED screen combined with SteamOS are just features that are tough to beat. Honestly, if Valve were to add Lossless Scaling and Fluid Motion Frames 2 it would add many additional years to the device. Not sure what they are waiting for.
 
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