Steam update frees up storage ahead of Steam Deck launch

A recent Steam update removes stale shader cache data, freeing up a large amount of storage space ahead of the upcoming Steam Deck launch.

As spotted in a report by Phoronix, a recent update to Valve's gaming storefront, Steam, aims to maximise storage space on player's systems by flushing out cache data. The beta update, which was released February 4, focuses specifically on in-game shaders. Many games often save the shader data to your GPU in the form of a cache so that they load faster the next time you play. However, this can amass a large amount of data for those who play a lot, and is not particularly useful for the majority of people.

It is speculated that Valve took this step ahead of the launch of its portable console, the Steam Deck - the base model of which has only 64GB of storage - which is launching this month. Those who pre-ordered the system will start receiving emails from February 25 which will allow them to confirm their purchase. From there Steam Decks should start arriving in consumers' hands by the beginning of March. With the release date now within sight, Valve has been putting together its final preparations.

Valve has been working to make sure as many Steam games as possible work on the handheld, with many such as Sekiro and Psychonauts 2 now confirmed. Some players, however, have been disappointed to find that the long-time PlayStation Vita exclusive Persona 4 Golden is yet to run on the more capable hardware. The Steam Deck does however have the function to allow players to switch between handheld and PC seamlessly without exiting your game.

One thing which has concerned potential buyers is the size. Larger than the WiiU gamepad and wider than the Virtual Boy, some people have expressed concerns over portability. However, in our hands-on preview, the Steam Deck didn't feel heavy or unwieldly to hold.

If you're one of those excited for the launch of the new handheld, check out everything you need to know about the Steam Deck.