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

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Valve's plans fall victim to material shortages

Steam Deck
(Image credit: Valve)

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.

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan
Former GamesRadar+ News Writer

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.