We were just recovering from the huge wave of memes and disappointments that the announcement of the Nintendo Switch OLED caused when Valve has caught us by surprise. Nobody really expected that Gabe Newell's company would irrupt into the gaming scene like this. Steam is still the most popular video game distribution platform in the world despite Epic Games' efforts but the announcement of Steam Deck puts their war on a secondary level. The new handheld gaming device was announced yesterday and it has caused a commotion in the sector due to its capabilities and the range of games it will give you access to.
Steam Deck is pretty much a mini-PC designed for gaming and comfort, with a wide range of features that will give you access to anything you would dream of. The best of the device is that you can connect it to your Steam account and then play any of the games in your library. That gives Steam Deck the biggest community of gamers in the world as a potential market. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Baldur’s Gate 3, Hades, Crusader Kings 3, and Disco Elysium are just some of the games that have been shown being played on Steam Deck. Of course, it's not going to be like playing on a high-end PC, but if you are worried about graphics, it will even support ray tracing and variable rate shading. Apart from that, Valve has stated that you will be able to install and use PC software on Steam Deck, making it function like a normal computer.
The final concern about Steam Deck is its price. It comes in three different versions: 64GB eMMC for 419€, 256GB NVMe SSD for 549€, and 512GB NVMe SSD for 679€. It's not cheap, but if you consider the range of features that it offers it's probably worth the price, and you can expand its storage space with a microSD card if you need it. You can reserve your Steam Deck already and it will start shipping in December 2021.
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