Valve has announced the delay of its forthcoming Steam Deck mobile gaming PC, citing global supply chain issues.
This news is the latest in a spate of delays to premium electronics products, from the scarcity of the PlayStation 5 to the delay of the Evercade VS.
While primarily geared towards PC gamers with mobile aspirations, Steam Deck provides access to almost the entire Steam library. This of course includes retro games for PC, along with ports of games from other platforms. This delay is bad news for everyone, not just those that want to play Forza Horizon 5 on the bus.
Email notification is as follows:
The launch of Steam Deck will be delayed by two months. We’re sorry about this—we did our best to work around the global supply chain issues, but due to material shortages, components aren’t reaching our manufacturing facilities in time for us to meet our initial launch dates.
Based on our updated build estimates, Steam Deck will start shipping February 2022. This will be the new start date of the reservation queue—you will keep your place in line but dates will shift back accordingly. Reservation date estimates will be updated shortly after this announcement.
Again, we’re sorry we won’t be able to make our original ship date. We’ll continue working to improve reservation dates based on the new timeline, and will keep you updated as we go.
Pushing the Steam Deck back that far might leave you to rethink your recent purchases. That low reservation can be easily forgotten, whichi might let you rethink your priorities towards more readily available retro hardware… or even a MEGA65.
Not sure what to do next? Learn more about the delay at the Steam Deck store page.
Gaming since 1984, retro gaming since 2004. Contributes to Linux Format magazine, TechRadar.com, and other publications.
