Valve has been in the news recently by introducing the Steam Deck. For those who don’t know, Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is a famous American video game developer, publisher, and digital distribution company. They are the developer for the software distribution platform of Steam and for the game like the Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Left 4 Dead, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, and Dota series. We will be looking at their latest Steam deck release date and everything you need to know about this handheld console.
Former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington founded the company valve in 1996. In 2003, Valve launched Steam, which every gamer knows how much influence has it made in the gaming industry since its launch. This digital game store accounts for around half of digital PC game sales by 2011. In the 2010s, Valve entered into developing hardware such as the Steam Machine and Steam Deck. They also became a part of developing the HTC Vive and as well as developing the Valve Index virtual reality headsets.
Just by the year 2012, Valve was reportedly worth over US$3 billion, giving employment to around 250 people. Thus Valve becomes the most profitable company per employee in the United States. The company runs on a flat structure, whereby the employees decide what to work on themselves. And looking at the success of Valve, it seems like they are on the right track.
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About Steam deck
Nobody was expecting a Steam deck, and it came out of nowhere. For those who don’t know, Steam deck is a handheld device that can play all of the games in the Steam library. As expected, It’s aimed to take on the Nintendo Switch for PC gaming, and it seems it can, considering the Steam Deck can do a lot more than just play games.
It’s because, Steam deck is not just a handheld game console, but an actual portable PC! Users can plug it directly into a monitor or a TV, can install apps and software, and can even use it to watch streaming video, and as expected, can play any game on Steam. This is a really huge thing when compared against the Nintendo Switch, especially how people had high hopes for Nintendo, but they turned everyone down.
The new Steam Deck runs on a new version of SteamOS, based on the Linux operating system. So an equation may arise, how will the Steam deck be able to handle the games meant for windows in an OS-based upon Linux? And as an answer for that, Valve uses their compatibility tech, Proton. And if the users aren’t still satisfied, they can completely uninstall SteamOS and just install Windows!
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Steam deck release date
As said before, this came out of nowhere, when everyone was talking about the new Nintendo Switch, Valve launched the Steam Deck, and this sure is a head-turner. As of now, it has been said that the Steam Deck will officially start shipping in December 2021. With the Steam deck, it will make Valve’s entry into the handheld gaming business.
Steam’s official site is showing availability for 64GB version in Q1 of 2022, 125 being available in Q2 2022, and Q3 2022 for the 512GB version. Those who are interested can reserve their position with a $5 deposit whenever the reservation goes live. As of now, the steam deck is only available to reserve in the US, UK, Canada, and the European Union. We can expect it to be expanded worldwide whenever they will be able to stock up enough stocks.
According to Valve, When inventory will be available, they will inform the customers to make their purchase. And those who are then not interested can cancel the reservation and can get their money back. Others can pay the rest of the price.
The Steam Deck is currently only available to reserve for the US, UK, Canada, and the European Union. The first Steam Decks reserved will ship in December, but the expected fulfillment date has been pushed into 2022 as reservations stack up.
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