Valve's Steam Deck handheld PC gaming platform is growing nearer to its tentative December release. Early adopters placed their reservations for a Steam Deck months ago, purely on Valve's promise of a legitimate mobile device to play both classic and modern PC games. There's also a smaller community of PC enthusiasts anxious for a new piece of hardware to play with. It's with them in mind that Valve has released a teardown video for the Steam Deck, in which Valve encourages everyone to never open or alter their own Steam Deck.
The message from Valve for a full 90 seconds of the relatively short Steam Deck teardown video is to not do any of the following. Valve covers a lot of the more general warnings. It says that it's a very finely tuned device and even opening the device can have surprising consequences. It reminds users that opening the Steam Deck could void the warranty. It even goes so far as warning that it's possible to damage the Steam Deck's lithium-ion battery, which can cause fire and even death.
Following the lengthy warning and recommendations for tools and safety devices, Valve dives right into the device. It starts with removing eight screws from the backside of the Steam Deck, which allows the removal of the back cover of the device. Next, Valve removes the battery of the Steam Deck in order to make continued dismantling of the device that much simpler and safer.
The first proper "repair" that Valve does on the Steam Deck is for one of the handheld console's joysticks. It's during this process that Valve says that basically every piece of the Steam Deck is custom, so Do-It-Yourselfers and modders will have to buy custom parts. Not every piece will fit, otherwise. However, Valve does say to look forward to a source for replacement parts, including thumbsticks, SSDs, and possibly more.
Following the replacement of the joystick, Valve continues by replacing the Steam Deck's SSD. Valve repeats that it doesn't recommend replacing components, noting the Steam Deck has MicroSD storage expansion available. But it goes through with the replacement anyway. Removing the SSD from the Steam Deck is a complicated, detailed process and Valve notes a variety of ways users could potentially permanently damage their device if they have the wrong part or do something incorrectly.
The message to take away from the video, obviously, is not to take apart the Steam Deck. However, Valve understands the value in providing details regarding the device's teardown and repair. Valve even confirms it will make parts available as necessary post-release. Even as custom a piece of hardware as the Steam Deck is, Valve's approaching it with a PC-gaming company's mentality.
The Steam Deck releases in December.
