Steam Deck delay pushes Valve's handheld system out of 2021

A Steam Deck delay means Valve's handheld gaming system will no longer arrive this year.

An update sent out to customers who have placed a deposit on a Steam Deck reveals that the system is now set to begin shipping out in February 2022, a two-month delay from its original window of December 2021. Valve says in the update that it did its best "to work around the global supply chain issues, but due to material shortages, components aren’t reaching our manufacturing facilities in time for us to meet our initial launch dates."

Valve notes that the shipping queue will remain in the same order; if you were one of the first folks to put a pre-order in, you'll still be among the first to receive a Steam Deck. It will just arrive in February (or at least beginning February) instead of December. Valve says it will keep Steam Deck customers updated as it locks in the new reservation dates.

While global supply crises are out of Valve's hands, the company does seem to be doing some work on its own end to get ready for Steam Deck's arrival. The biggest Half-Life 2 update in years recently rolled out, which points toward efforts on Valve's part to get its own portfolio of games ready to play on the go. Even beyond Valve-developed games, a new compatibility program will let you know which games are Steam Deck Verified.

See some other games you may want to download to your Steam Deck first thing with our guide to the best PC games.