Valve clarifies Steam Deck 2 delay, citing need for major chip improvements before next-gen upgrade

Valve says the Steam Deck 2 needs larger performance and battery gains, explaining why upgraded hardware is not ready

Valve has addressed renewed questions about the future of the Steam Deck following the company’s unveiling of three new hardware products: the Steam Frame headset, a new Steam Machine and an updated Steam Controller. With no new handheld announced alongside them, fans have been asking when the next generation of the Steam Deck will finally arrive.

In an interview with IGN, Valve software engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais explained that a successor is still planned, but the technology required to justify a true generational upgrade is not yet available.

Griffais said Valve is monitoring upcoming silicon and architectural developments, but current chips cannot deliver the performance gains the company believes a next-generation device should offer while maintaining acceptable battery life.

According to Griffais, Valve is seeking a significant improvement rather than modest gains. “We’re not interested in getting to a point where it’s 20 or 30 or even 50% more performance at the same battery life,” he told the publication.

He added that the company has a clear idea of what the next version of the Steam Deck should be, but “right now there are no offerings in that landscape that we think would truly be a next-gen performance Steam Deck.”

The original Steam Deck launched in 2022, followed by the OLED revision in 2023. Although the handheld remains supported through Valve’s Steam Deck-verified library, its current hardware faces limitations with some newer PC titles.

The company gave similar reasoning in a 2024 interview, stating that power efficiency and battery targets were central obstacles to releasing a successor.

While a Steam Deck 2 is still some way off, Valve’s new hardware lineup introduced on November 12 gives fans alternative devices to explore as the company continues tracking future chip advancements.