Valve has recently updated its Steam Deck FAQ. If you are interested in, or have even pre-ordered, a Steam Deck then it is probably worth a peek at the extensive texts, though you will find many quite technical answers primarily targeting developers.
An update concerning Steam Deck-exclusive titles features among the throng of questions and answers. The answer to such a possibility might be obvious, if you come from the PC side of things, but folk arriving from console-land might need to be told up front that no, the Steam Deck won’t be getting exclusive platform titles. At least, Valve seems to pour scorn on such an idea.
Q: Would Valve be interested in having any Steam Deck exclusive titles?
A: No, that doesn’t make much sense to us. It’s a PC and it should just play games like a PC.
Valve has consistently marketed the new handheld as a portable game-ready PC. The Steam Deck is widely compatible with the vast Steam PC library of games as possible. Thus, it would be perverse to start to create barriers on the other side of the equation.
Having said the above, developing a PC gaming title and making it a Steam Deck exclusive, in some way, might help a dev get noticed in the crowded Steam marketplace, but perhaps we should shut up about that.
Steam Deck VR gaming
Another interesting FAQ section addresses VR support on the Steam Deck. Truly portable VR systems seem to be an aspirational goal, however, the Steam Deck isn’t as powerful as a typical modern gaming laptop, and probably lacks the power to run PC VR titles at high refresh rates on the dual high-resolution screens typically found in HMDs.
SteamOS3 release plans
Last but not least, if you are looking in on Steam Deck developments and wouldn’t mind installing SteamOS on a laptop or desktop, Valve says that SteamOS 3 will get some more attention after the Steam Deck launch. No solid date is put forward for the SteamOS 3 launch though, one might expect it will come sooner if the Steam Deck launch goes smoothly – in terms of software abilities / bugs.
