Valve is an enigmatic company, and with no official news of the Steam Deck 2, one fan has taken it upon themselves to create concept art of a compact-looking follow up to the original Steam Deck.
The Steam Deck has been a smash hit with Steam users, sitting high on the platform's top ten sellers list for well over a year. One fan has clearly been busy imagining a follow-up, sharing a Reddit post with concept art that's closer to a Nintendo 3DS or PlayStation Vita than the original Deck.
It's caused quite the stir in the Steam Deck subreddit, too, gathering over 1000 upvotes and several comments. Valve should take note of the thoughts shared in the comment section, as they reveal some of the loves, hates, and wants of the userbase.
Fan made designs can be a real source of fun. From the spherical 'Xbox 720' concepts to phones that can be eaten (???), it's always a treat to see what unhinged things fans are coming up with. Commenters were quick to share both praise and feedback on the design, but creator Anded117 made it clear that the concept was 'just a doodle'.
All great designs start as doodles, however, and the concept art features an 'extra battery' version that adds some bulk for what would theoretically be some much-needed battery life. While it may not be a perfect fit for the Steam Deck, there's bound to be at least one investor for something like Anded117's designs.
I love clamshells for screen protection, but after using this for awhile I'd wish that the screen was between the controls for ergonomics.
You get an upvote juts for actually making a model that actually looks workable. The ergonomics are terrible, but at least it works.
With all that space at the bottom you might as well add a keyboard.
I don't understand the point? I love the Deck because it isn't a tiny barely-useable handheld for anyone that doesn't have child-sized hands. This looks like a nightmare to use, looks like it probably has a smaller screen, would be vastly more difficult to perform repairs on. For what? Nostalgia?
Read more: Which steam deck should you get in 2023?
As a casual observer, the attempts made by new technology to look more exciting than the previous offerings is always fascinating. Apple phones fluctuate in size every year and PlayStation always has something weird going on, making it a great time to be into tech you're easily amused. This is doubly true for the enigmatic Valve and their Steam decks; nobody really knows what they'll do next and I, for one, love it.