If the Steam Deck is a success, Valve could roll out even more handheld consoles – and that should worry Nintendo.
Even though the Steam Deck hasn’t even launched yet, Valve appears to have big ambitions for future handheld gaming devices, and Nintendo, the company that’s dominated that market in the past, should be worried. While Valve CEO Gabe Newell has already said that the Steam Deck is designed to establish “a product category that ourselves and other PC manufacturers are going to be able to participate in,” and which is “going to have long-term benefits for us,” Greg Coomer, a designer involved with the Steam Deck, has shed more light on Valve’s handheld plans. As PC Gamer reports, Coomer reveals that Valve will “continue making devices in this product line.” So, it’s likely we’ll see hardware refreshes and other variations. Whether this is a Steam Deck 2, Steam Deck Pro or something else entirely isn’t obvious at the moment. What is clear, however, is that Nintendo should be worried. Ever since the iconic Game Boy, Nintendo has been the market leader in handheld consoles, easily seeing off the threats from its competitors like Sega and Sony. While it’s unlikely that Sony will release a new PlayStation Portable console, and Microsoft doesn’t seem interested in a handheld Xbox (and why should it, if the Steam Deck can be made to run Windows 11 and play Xbox games?), Nintendo’s Switch console is immensely popular.
