Valve has changed the world of PC gaming immensely with the Steam Deck.

This portable device has not only made the PC gaming market mobile, but has also positioned itself as a competitor to the Nintendo Switch. Still, those already hoping for a Steam Deck 2 should be patient for now.

In recent weeks and months there have been increased rumours of a Nintendo Switch 2, meanwhile Valve has no plans to update its Steam Deck for now. While the successor to the Nintendo Switch is expected to launch as early as 2024, it will take much longer for a Steam Deck 2.

Speaking to The Verge, Pierre-Loup Griffais of the Steam Deck design team at Valve stressed that changing the performance level of the handheld PC is by no means easy. A future update to the platform would need to offer a significant performance improvement without significantly impacting battery life.

“It is important to us that the deck provides developers with a stable performance target and that our end users know that any deck can play the same games,” explained Pierre-Loup Griffais.

Because of these goals, the designer said hardware development requires several years. Given the release of the previous Steam Deck in February 2022, it is therefore unlikely that a Steam Deck 2 will hit the market before the end of 2025.

While not directly confirming the existence of a successor, Griffais stressed, “Valve is watching innovation and architecture and manufacturing processes closely to see where things are going.”