Deck the hardware

We revisit and trick out the Valve Steam Deck a year on from release.

The year 2022 will go down as the year of the Linux Deck-top. A typo in Linux Format, you cheer, but for once, 'tis deliberate. Valve released its Linux-powered Steam Deck, driven by an abundance of cutting-edge open source technology that at least in part was backed and developed by Valve itself.

Back at the start of 2022, we covered the prerelease build-up and launch of the Steam Deck see our preview and review in LXF287 and LXF288, and our getting started guide in LXF289. While some reviewers had misgivings about a Linux-powered handheld gaming device, the world didn't. A year on, the Steam Deck is a smash hit. Valve can't make them fast enough and it's the biggest grossing product on Steam - with new games costing £60, that's a bigger deal than you might at first think.

So, here we are, a year on, a few Hardware of the Year awards under the Steam Deck's belt, along with plenty of software updates - see news (page 6) for how Valve is funding connected open source projects - and we're taking time to look at the Steam Deck once again to see what the latest developments are, what you can do with it and how its performance can be tweaked. One of the important improvements over its launch is that you can actually buy the Steam Deck now. Originally, Valve was having issues fulfilling pre-orders- due to the post-pandemic chip shortage - but it seems orders are now being sent out within two weeks.