Valve has announced a new Steam Deck handheld PC version, but it's not a one-size-fits-all upgrade for every gamer.
It will be available on Monday, November 18 and is largely white, instead of the usual all-black style.
Its face buttons and controls are grey, while the power button provides one splash of colour: orange.
However, the white Steam Deck is not necessarily an appealing upgrade for existing Steam Deck fans. It is not a functional upgrade over the standard OLED model, released in November 2023.
“Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White has all the same specs as the Steam Deck OLED 1TB model, but in white and grey,” says Valve.
Regardless, it may also sell out quickly because Valve says it is a genuine limited-run product.
“This model will only be available in limited quantities, with stock allocated proportionally across each region,” Valve says.
“As this is a limited-edition release, we will not be making more of this particular design. Once we are sold out, we will be sold out.”
White Steam Deck release date
The Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White will go on sale from the Steam store at 11pm UK time on November 18 and will cost £599. This is £30 more than the standard black version. It includes a white case to match the console’s colours.
Why release a new model not as powerful as the standard Steam Deck OLED from a year ago, which is only slightly higher-performing than the original 2022 LCD version?
One take is Valve wants to capitalise on the pre-Christmas shopper. Another theory is that the Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White is a side effect of exploratory materials engineering work Valve is putting into the Steam Deck 2.
Changing the product’s colour is more tricky than it sounds, with variances in the plastics’ feel, finish, durability and strength requiring testing.
Recently Valve also reaffirmed its intention not to release a truly upgraded Steam Deck soon.
“We’re not going to do a bump every year. There’s no reason to do that. And, honestly, from our perspective, that’s kind of not really fair to your customers to come out with something so soon that’s only incrementally better,” Lawrence Yang from the Steam Deck design team told Reviews.org.
Steam Deck is considered a big success, even though users comprise only 0.74 per cent of players on the Steam platform, according to the October 2024 Steam Hardware Survey.
