Finally, and after a long wait, Valve has officially announced the Steam Deck portable game console, which will enable users to play the games available on their Steam library anytime and anywhere without the need for a computer.
The Steam Deck is a device that is somewhat similar to the Nintendo Switch in terms of design and appearance, but different in terms of hardware specifications and the operating system it runs on. Steam Deck comes with a 7-inch IPS LCD touchscreen, HD resolution (1280 x 800 pixels), 60Hz refresh rate, and 400 nits brightness.
The device has a Zen 2 AMD processor (4 cores / 8 threads) at a maximum frequency of 3.5 GHz, and an 8 Compute Units RDNA 2 GPU, accompanied by 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM, and in three internal storage options starting from 64 GB to 512 GB expandable via the external memory card slot found on the game console.
Steam Dick supports both Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 5 and has stereo speakers, two microphones, and a 3.5 mm jack port.
Steam Dick weighs 669 grams, supports both Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 5, and has stereo speakers, two microphones, and a 3.5 mm jack port. It also contains a 45-watt-hour battery capable of giving 2 to 8 hours of gaming and supports 45-watt fast charging via the USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 port on the device. The USB Type-C port can also be used to connect an external display with a resolution of up to 8K @60Hz or 4K @120Hz for a better gaming experience.
On the software side, Steam Deck comes with the Arch Linux-based SteamOS 3.0, with KDE Plasma desktop environment.
In Parallel to the launch of the Steam Deck game console, Valve has announced a new free short game called Aperture Desk Job, which will be available from March 1, in order to guide and familiarize the player with the device's features and components.
"Set in the world of Portal, Desk Job guides you through the controls and features of a mobile device, while not as boring as it sounds", says Valve.
The company has also introduced a new website where users can check their Steam library for Deck compatibility and has added a new section on its game pages that shows information about its compatibility status with the new Valve game console.
Those interested in console games can make a reservation for a Steam Dock from now on for 5 USD, and an email will be sent to the first batch of them in the order in which the reservations were made. They will have 72 hours to complete the purchase or cancel the reservation. The next batch of order emails will be sent out next week, and so on.
Steam Deck is available at the following prices depending on the available device storage space:
- 64GB eMMC at $399.00
- 256GB NVMe SSD at $529.00
- 512GB NVMe SSD at $649.00