In accordance with a current replace from Valve (opens in new tab), fulfilment of Steam Deck orders is about to hurry up as “Lots of the provide chain shortfalls that have an effect on Steam Deck are steadily clearing up.” The corporate goes on to state that it’s “in a position to produce extra Decks quicker than ever earlier than.”
It is unclear which elements within the Steam Deck contributed to the manufacturing bottleneck, nevertheless it’s potential that the current adoption (opens in new tab) of PCI categorical 3.0 x2 SSDs alongside the unique spec PCI categorical 3.0 x4 drives has helped manufacturing. Valve mentioned the higher-bandwidth drives have been considered one of its bottlenecks in manufacturing late final month (opens in new tab).
When you’ve already put down your $5 deposit for a Deck, which means your order is “solidly” within the This autumn (October to December) 2022 supply window—you are just about assured to get it this yr, barring unexpected disaster. All future Deck orders will go on to fill that supply window, till they ultimately begin spilling over into subsequent yr. What’s extra, some prospects who have been beforehand slated to exit Deck Heck “after Q3 2022” have now gotten their orders expedited, and may see their buy emails earlier than the top of September.
The wait continues for myself and fellow PC Gamer editor Tyler Colp nonetheless—we stay consigned to the Deckless oblivion till a while in This autumn. Nonetheless, it is good to have that relative assure that we’ll see our new consoles by the top of the yr. It is uncommon to be shocked by good information on this life, doubly so in relation to product fulfilment timetables.
I am going to nonetheless take Valve’s mannequin over the recent hell of GPU (opens in new tab) and console scalping we have skilled over the previous few years. There is a promise of some form of equity right here, everybody getting their place within the queue. The thinker in me needs to say that some delayed gratification in relation to our consoles and toys would possibly do us some good too. Deck Heck would possibly simply construct somewhat character.