Valve has published an update regarding its portable Steam Deck game console and it seems to be good news. The company says that the first systems will ship to their owner by the end of February, so there will be no more delays. Meanwhile, the company's Deck Verified program is gaining momentum as the company ships more units to game developers.
"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," a statement from the company reads.
The first production Steam Decks are in Valve's office, ready for testing and evaluation. It looks like the software developer is satisfied with their build quality as they say they are looking great. The company will ship the first units to their owners by the end of February, and advises customers to check their estimated reservation availability window at a special page.
But before the first commercial Steam Decks leave Valve's warehouse, the company is keen to ensure the Steam Deck compatibility with as many games as possible using its Deck Verified program. To do so, Valve has sent out hundreds of Steam Deck developer kits to software developers, and intends to ship more units in the coming weeks and months.
Valve's plan is to review the entire Steam catalog on its console, which includes tens of thousands of titles. After each game is reviewed, it falls into one of three categories: Unsupported (the title does not work on Steam Deck), Playable (the title requires some tweaking by the end user to play), and Verified (games that work on Steam Deck well straight out of the box). Games that have not been tested fall into the Unknown category.
To get Deck Verified approval, the game should have full controller support and automatically bring up up the on-screen keyboard when needed; it must support the default Steam Deck resolution (1280 x 800 or 1280 x 720) with appropriate default quality settings and readable text; it should display no compatibility warnings; and must work well with Steam Deck either natively or through Proton.
The Steam Deck is available for pre-order from Valve for $399, $529 or $649 depending on the version.
