A recent tweet from Valve designer Lawrence Yang pointed out that YouTuber Tranasus has used the Steam Deck to not only create a very simple game using the device, but has added it to their Steam library. While what they actually created is very basic, being just a simple shape moving around an empty plain, the whole idea behind the experiment was to show that it’s possible to use just the system to develop and upload games. Tranasus believes that the Deck is therefore a viable alternative to a regular PC, especially given that it’s cheaper than a full system.
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It does show that the device can seemingly do everything that a home computer can. Tranasus says that, with just a Bluetooth keyboard and the Deck, anyone interested in programming can potentially use it in the same way that someone would use a tower or laptop. So diverse is the system that some users have even been modding their device, with one person managing to swap out the Steam Deck’s SSD for a bigger one. While possible to do, Valve has insisted that others not attempt this, as it can cause issues down the line.
Since launching in February, the portable machine has proven to be quite popular. So much so, in fact, that Valve has increased production of the Steam Deck, which is something the company was planning on doing from the start. Units are said to be doubling every week, and the company has also begun to go through its Q3 preorder queue.
Despite Valve’s past attempts at making hardware, the Steam Deck finally shows that the developer is capable of making an impact outside the world of gaming software. Of course, its Steam PC client will likely always be the big moneymaker, but having a mobile system that is capable of playing a gamer’s library on the move is something that is currently going over well with users.
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Source: GamesRadar, Twitter
