Valve is fulfilling a very specific interest with the Steam Deck: portable gaming based on players’ Steam library. Sure, there is the argument for just playing on a laptop, but the Steam Deck is meant to provide a bit more convenience and comfort without compromising game performance. Obviously there are games that can only be played with mouse and keyboard with zero room for a gamepad support, but that is what the Steam Deck Compatability System is for, so that players can know which games will run well on the device, and those that won’t. The Steam Deck was supposed to release this Decemeber but was delayed to February due to manufacturing delays.

RELATED: Valve Delays Steam Deck Launch By Two Months

Unlike the Nintendo Switch who’s performance varies between its portable and docked states, the Steam Deck will perform the same regardless of its playing state. Some games have already been shown running on the device like this year’s Psychonauts 2, and the massive The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, both fairly graphically and performance intensive games. Like gaming on PC, players will be able to customize their graphics settings as to get their desired performance, though most games will start with the intended graphics settings out of the box. That said, if those games can run on the device, there are likely an insurmountable number of titles that can as well.

Valve’s stance on Steam Deck exclusive games is indicative of the strong vision it had when making the device. The console market is a tough industry to break into, with PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo being the mainstays for over 20 years now. Steam Deck was never intended to compete against those brands and services, but be an extension for PC players looking to do more with their Steam libraries (though it does share some conceptual similarities to the Switch). Making Steam Deck exclusive games would be missing the point of the device.

The Steam Deck launches in February of 2022.

MORE: Valve and Microsoft’s Licensing Agreement Could be Great for Modding Going Forward

Source: Valve