Steam Deck 2, the timeline extends and, once again, the blame is on the memory crisis

Valve is working on Steam Deck 2 but must deal with the memory crisis that has already led the company to postpone the launch of the new Steam Machine. The arrival times of the new handheld are at risk of being significantly extended. Let's remember that last November, Valve had stated that they were "not in a hurry" since there is currently no chip on the market capable of providing a significant leap in quality.

Latest on Steam Deck 2

The new generation of Steam Deck has been under development for some time. Its realization is part of Valve's plans, which achieved excellent results with the first model but, as mentioned, has to contend with the memory crisis.

According to leaker Kepler_L2, Valve aims to launch Steam Deck 2 "in 2028," taking the necessary time to overcome the challenges posed by rising memory costs and their scarcity.

The ongoing crisis, according to the source, could lead to a change of plans for Valve, which may even choose to further postpone the launch, delaying the release to a period of greater stability in the market.

The use of a non-custom SoC, unlike what is planned for the PS6 and the new Xbox, can represent an advantage in this case. A possible delay in the launch, in fact, could translate into the opportunity to enhance the project with a more powerful SoC, always provided by AMD.

Steam Deck 2 is expected to leverage the RDNA 5 and Zen 6 architectures, with a substantial quality leap compared to the RDNA 2 and Zen 2 used by the first generation of Deck. More details are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.