Today, Valve officially opened up registrations for its upcoming virtual reality headset, the Steam Frame. The pricey $1,000+ device is just one of three new pieces of video game hardware Valve will release in 2026. And all of this kicked off with Valve’s successful Steam Deck, a handheld PC that many fans want a new version of in the near future. According to Valve, the Steam Deck 2 is still on the way, and the ongoing RAMageddon hasn’t really derailed its plans.
During an interview with IGN, ostensibly about the Steam Frame, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais was asked about Steam Deck 2, which will be a more powerful next-generation version of the company’s incredibly popular and influential portable PC. Specifically, he was asked whether the ongoing RAM crisis, which has led to shortages and tech prices rising, has delayed the Steam Deck 2 or thrown a wrench in Valve’s plans for it.
“Not really,” said Griffais. “We’ve talked before about how we want to make sure there’s a very delineated performance improvement for something like a future Steam Deck, and I think we’re still looking at it in the same way. It’s just a matter of looking at the current conditions and seeing how and when we can deliver something like that.”
“But from what we’re working on, as far as the user experience goes and what the product that we’re trying to build goes, it’s very similar goals.”
The Steam Deck 2 saga continues
Valve has been open for a few years now about its plans to make and release a Steam Deck successor at some point. “We really do want to wait for a generational leap in compute without sacrificing battery life before we ship the real second generation of Steam Deck,” the company said back in 2024. And earlier this year, rumors were flying around that Valve was aiming to get the Steam Deck 2 out sometime in 2028.
While Valve claims that the RAM crisis hasn’t changed its plans for the Steam Deck 2, the company did tell IGN that increased prices on items like the OG Steam Deck and Steam Machine likely have had some impact on how many devices it is selling, though it’s not entirely clear how big of an impact.
“It’s a little hard to say because we’re still working on getting the whole launch quantity through, but in practice, I mean I think price for sure impacts demand,” said Griffais. “We’ll have to monitor how things are going, but we’re pretty comfortable with the fact that all these products are trending similarly to other products in the market.”