Valve has shipped ‘hundreds’ of Steam Deck dev kits in the last month, remains on track for February launch
“Global pandemic, supply issues, and shipping issues notwithstanding”.
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According to the latestupdate from Valve, not only will theSteam Deckship on time (“Global pandemic, supply issues, and shipping issues notwithstanding, it looks like we’ll be able to start getting these out the door by the end of February”), but plenty of game developers will have their own test Decks in advance to help insure their games are fully compatible with the handheld device.
Valve’sDeck Verified programwill give a tick to games that satisfy its categories for Steam Deck compatibility, including full controller support, as well as supporting the default resolutions of 1280x800 or 1280x700 with readable text. A look atPortal 2 in SteamDBshows that it’s already set up for a Steam Deck compatibility rating, which will presumably be visible in the storefront soon.
“It’s also important that we give developers the ability to test their games in order to get that nice green Verified check,” Valve says, “so we’ve been sending developer kits out in quantity. We’ve been approving another wave of dev kits, and hundreds have been shipped out in the last month (and we’re continuing to approve and send out even more).”
While initially planned for a launch in late 2021, thanks to hardware shortages Valve wasn’t able to source all the parts needed, resulting in a delay. If you pre-ordered one, you can check yourestimated reservation availability windowonline.
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Jody’s first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia’s first radio show about videogames,Zed Games. He’s written forRock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue,GamesRadar,Zam,Glixel,Five Out of Ten Magazine, andPlayboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody’s first article for PC Gamer was about theaudio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he’s written aboutwhy Silent Hill belongs on PC,why Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, andhow weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.
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