The last two years have seen many delays in the games industry. Many hardware delays were the result of the pandemic and its effect on labor, which caused a huge computer chip shortage. Many gamers will therefore be happy to know that Valve's Steam Deck is on track to be released on its scheduled date.
The Steam Deck has been delayed once, as it was originally scheduled to be shipped in December this year. Valve realized that this would not be a viable option owing to the massive demand for the handheld console combined with the shortage of many vital components. The company, therefore, decided to push the console's release date to February 2022. Valve also seems to be quite confident in the console's February release date, as Valve designer Greg Coomer stated that "All signs are pointing to us being able to ship in February."
Coomer mentioned that the Steam Deck team had identified close to 50 components that were bottlenecking the production of the console as the result of shortages. This is largely also due to the sheer volume of pre-orders that Valve has received for the Steam Deck thus far, with Coomer stating that thousands of people are going to receive Steam Decks as soon as Valve decides to ship them. Coomer also went on to state that the company was upset that the Steam Deck had to be delayed in the first place, however, the company is confident that in the first few months after launch many fans will be able to easily purchase the console.
Valve has also made it known that it will produce Steam Deck exclusive games. This is an interesting move by Valve, as offering exclusive games could have made the handheld console a serious competitor for the Nintendo Switch. Valve instead designed the Steam Deck with PC gamers being able to take their Steam libraries on the go, as opposed to making the console and its games an exclusive experience "It's a PC and it should just play games like a PC"
There is quite a lot of hype surrounding the handheld console and from what Valve has shown off so far, it is seemingly rather difficult to not get hyped. The company has already shown off games like Control, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Psychonauts 2 playing seamlessly on the Steam Deck. Valve will, hopefully, be able to deliver on this massive hype in February next year when the console ships and allow players to experience PC gaming on the go.
The Steam Deck is set to ship in February 2022.
Source: PCGamer
