The Steam Deck, originally released in February of 2022, used to require reservations to purchase the Valve device. When it was your turn in the queue, you would cash in your reservation, purchase the Steam Deck, and then have it shipped to your door. Today, Valve has announced that is no longer the case; you can now buy a Steam Deck and have it shipped shortly after.
https://twitter.com/OnDeck/status/1578088497759793152
Valve explains in the above video that they have increased manufacturing volume to meet the increasing demand. They mention that if the demand skyrockets above what they anticipate, they may have to temporarily restore the reservation queue as they are still experiencing supply issues.
In addition, Valve announced that they are now taking reservations for South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan.
Valve also announced that the official Docking Station for Steam Deck is also available. It features 3 USB-A 3.1 Gen1 ports, a USB-C port for power, DisplayPort, HDMI, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. Valve warns that the Docking Station may also suffer from the same supply issues as the Steam Deck. “As with Steam Deck, the Docking Station is under the same processing and shipping bandwidth constraints,” they said in a press release. “If order volume is extremely high, we will flip into reservation mode until we catch up. We’re glad to finally be able to get the Docking Station into customer hands, thank you for your patience!”
Valve also introduced the following software updates for Steam Deck:
- User interface and experience improvementsWe’ve improved the in-game experience by adding quick links to Achievements and Guides to the overlay. The media page where screenshots are stored has been redesigned and improved to be much more performant. Night mode can now be automatically scheduled to turn on and off at different times of the day. And Offline Mode has undergone a series of improvements to make it much more stable and intuitive to use.
- New Steam Input featuresIn addition to a slew of bug fixes and UI improvements, Mode Shifts are now supported, and Steam Input virtual menus have been completely refreshed and redesigned. Now you can name virtual menus, move them between different sources, and have more control over icons and colors.
- More keyboards and improved experienceTo prepare for our launch in new regions, we’ve added on-screen keyboard support for Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. In addition, there have been big improvements to touchscreen and trackpad on-screen keyboard typing and responsiveness – both in Gaming mode and Desktop mode.
- System updatesSteamOS, drivers, and firmware have all been updated to improve performance and stability across Steam Deck. In addition, to help folks keep track of system updates and betas (if you choose to participate in testing), we’ve added new, simpler update channels – Stable, Beta, and Preview.
- Docked mode overhaulWe’ve been focused on a bunch of UI, software, and OS updates to improve the docked experience – not only for the official Docking Station, but for all connected docks, hubs, and peripherals. The team has added scaling, resolution, and refresh rate settings for external displays, as well as broad compatibility for external displays, peripherals, and audio-out scenarios.
The Valve Steam Deck comes in three different models:
- $399 – 64 GB eMMC storage, with a carrying case
- $529 – 256 GB NVMe SSD storage, carrying case, exclusive Steam Community profile bundle
- $649 – 512 GB NVMe SSD storage, anti-glare etched class, exclusive Steam Community profile bundle, exclusive carrying case, exclusive virtual keyboard theme
Do note that the 512 GB model is not shipping until the final quarter of 2022. The other two models have an expected delivery time of 1-2 weeks.
The Docking Station is $89 and has an estimated delivery time of 1-2 weeks.
