Everybody wants a Steam Deck, but the demand has vastly outstripped the supply so far. If you're still waiting for that special email, Valve wants you to know that it's working very hard to get that shipment to you.
On Monday, Valve took the heartwarming step of welcoming its customers to Q2, as well as reminding those lucky souls with a Q2 delivery window that it'll be sending fresh emails every week as the quarter progresses. The tweet stated that the company is "ramping up" Steam Deck shipments, and that customers should watch their inboxes for more info.
Considering that we used to procure consoles by walking into GameStop or Walmart whenever we wanted, these new shortages have caused quite a culture shift in the way we buy these high-demand devices. Currently, if you purchase a Steam Deck, you can expect to order portable gaming PC (not including shipping time) at October 2022 at the earliest, though to be honest, that seems like an overly optimistic timeframe.
You can lock in that order window for yourself by putting down a $5 deposit. While the Steam Deck isn't for everybody, if you want one, it's probably best to jump on this opportunity sooner than later, because we expect demand to increase even further as more people get their hands on the device. It's already so successful that Gabe Newell has indicated that Valve is likely working on a follow-up to it, though you probably won't see that for months — if not years.
So far, the Deck has received mostly positive reviews from press, who have praised it as a Switch-sized solution to the problem of mobile PC gaming. However, it’s still a hackable device, and many games require a bit of fiddling to get working. Overall, though, if you’re willing to put in the work, it seems like it’s worth the wait. Not like you have the option to skip it, of course.
