As we mentioned earlier this week, the Steam Deck has had one hell of a launch yr. It needs to be no shock, then, that Valve has its eye on the way forward for its new handheld, which it has formally categorized as a “multi-generational product.” The corporate has now revealed a little bit of what it’s hoping to enhance and the place it’s seeking to develop within the {hardware} sport.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Verge, Steam Deck designers Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais talked about ambitions and concrete objectives for the Steam Deck. After almost a yr out within the wild, the Deck has actually impressed with its efficiency and huge collection of video games. Nevertheless, areas for enchancment are clear: The display screen is serviceable, but it surely’s removed from that of, say, the brand new Nintendo Swap OLED Mannequin. And the battery not solely tends to empty rapidly however, as iFixit noticed in its assessment, it’s one of many least fixable issues in an in any other case repair-friendly gadget. We all know now that these final two factors are high of thoughts for Valve.
Although the corporate didn’t reveal a lot of its plans for the display screen’s enchancment, it did share some perception into the battery, its replaceability, and the way future iterations of the product are addressing areas of concern.
With a battery that’s fast to lose its juice, and the character of such an influence supply being to degrade over time, poor replaceability is a disappointment. Griffais instructed The Verge that on account of the opportunity of battery enlargement, “you’ll be able to’t actually have the battery-shaped gap [inside the Deck] be precisely the identical measurement because the battery” and that all the glue that holds it in place is to maintain it from shifting round an excessive amount of.
Concern for a rattley battery was apparently a difficulty in improvement. “In a few of our early prototypes,” Griffais stated, “we had [the battery shifting around] and I’ll let you know, it doesn’t really feel good in any respect while you’re simply shifting round and attempting to make use of your Deck.” Yang comically added, “You don’t desire a Steam Deck maraca, and also you don’t desire a battery probably touching different vital parts and jostling them round.”
So the choice to safe the battery in place so rigidly was essential to get the Deck in a playable, shippable, and reliably secure state. Yang revealed that Valve has “rolled in a change to the geometry of the [glue that holds the battery]” which ought to permit for simpler removing and repairs down the road.
Valve additionally revealed, maybe to the shock and pleasure of a choose few, {that a} new Steam Controller can also be one thing the corporate is aspiring to make occur. The unique Steam Controller was a little bit of an odd chook, however its excessive stage of customization actually caught the eye of a devoted, if small, fan base. Us choose few who fell in love with it already knew it, however the Steam Deck has continued to exhibit the necessity for extra malleable and dynamic gamepads for PC gaming.
Learn Extra: The Steam Deck’s Funky Controls Show That Gamepads Are Outdated
However in case you’re able to throw cash on the display screen for a follow-up to Valve’s owl-shaped controller, I’m sorry to say that it would take some time. “Proper now, we’re specializing in the Deck,” Yang stated. “[A controller is] undoubtedly one thing the place we’d be excited to work with a third-party or discover ourselves.”