Valve Announces No Annual Releases for Steam Deck; Steam Deck 2 Delayed Until Significant Performance Leap

The Steam Deck has truly changed the way we think about gaming, allowing us to dive into high-end AAA games from the comfort of our beds on a handheld device. Naturally, with such a groundbreaking innovation, gamers and tech enthusiasts are buzzing with excitement over the possibility of a Steam Deck 2, especially given the significant strides the APU industry has made over the past few years. However, Valve has set expectations, making it clear that the sequel won’t be hitting the market until there’s a substantial leap in computing capabilities. This was highlighted in a discussion with Reviews.org, where Valve emphasized the need for this “generational leap” before moving forward.

When it comes to performance, AMD’s shift to RDNA architecture was a game-changer, leaving its previous Vega offerings far behind in terms of speed and driver support. By the second iteration, RDNA 2, Valve and AMD jointly developed a tailored chip for the Steam Deck, known as Van Gogh.

The Steam Deck boasts an APU with four Zen 2 cores and an eight Compute Unit-based RDNA 2 integrated graphics, both technologies tracing back to around 2020. Even the latest OLED revision did not offer significant performance enhancements, which some found disappointing.

In the meantime, AMD’s cutting-edge Strix Point APUs (Ryzen AI 300) with Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 are on the horizon. Addressing the prospect of a new version, Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang remarked, “It’s important for us to clarify that we’re not adhering to an annual release cycle.”

Valve seems to be mirroring the strategies of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, choosing not to rush upgrades. The PS5 Pro, for instance, still relies on the outdated Zen 2 architecture. Although there have been advancements in the portable gaming space, including Intel’s entry with its Lunar Lake (Core Ultra 200V) CPUs, they aren’t yet compelling enough to warrant a Steam Deck 2. Yang elaborated, “We’re keen on waiting for a major leap in computing power without compromising battery life before unveiling a true second generation of Steam Deck.”

On a more technical note, today’s APUs aren’t significantly faster than their predecessors like Rembrandt (Ryzen 6000 Mobile) when operating at sub-15W levels. Though Intel’s Lunar Lake brings innovation through its architectural decisions, it’s not groundbreaking enough for Valve’s standards. Thus, we can anticipate that the Steam Deck 2, when it does arrive, will mark a major advancement in performance and energy efficiency. Valve is also exploring an ARM64 version of Proton, which could incorporate ARM cores and a GPU solution from Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA, much like the Nintendo Switch’s adaptive strategy.

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