Valve’s sudden announcement of the Steam Deck OLED has taken the world by storm, but that’s not the only thing they have up their sleeves. In addition to this hardware upgrade, they also confirmed that a more powerful Steam Deck 2 is in the works, but it won’t come out for a while.
When speaking with Bloomberg about the new OLED model, Steam Deck product designer Lawrence Yang confirmed that a Steam Deck 2 is being worked on. Before fans start to get angry over the release of the OLED or having an older model, Yang says this is at least two or three years away. The best-case scenario is a 2026 release, but that’s only if everything goes to plan.
At the time of writing, no other information about the Deck’s successor was revealed, though Yang did mention a “next-generation upgrade.” Considering how the Steam Deck can play games that look like PS4 or Xbox One titles, we can only imagine how much better games on Steam Deck 2 will look.
Fans who have the first model are in love with this handheld, even if they’re a bit bitter over the OLED’s upcoming release. However, as powerful as the Deck is, compromises are usually made to get most AAA games running. Sure, Cyberpunk 2077 looks great on the handheld, but players hoping to go over 60fps will be disappointed.
Most Deck owners usually play their games at 40hz, as it’s a good way to save battery while still getting good performance. Hopefully, the Deck’s successor can actually run more powerful games at a better framerate, though we doubt it will be able to handle 120fps.
Now that we’re getting the Steam Deck 2 and Nintendo Switch 2, fans have a lot of handhelds to talk about. Considering the current popularity of their predecessors, we’re sure these two machines will make a huge impact when they eventually come out.
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Currently, there is no release date for the Steam Deck 2. Fans will be able to pick up the Steam Deck OLED on November 16 in certain countries, with a worldwide release coming soon.