News

Nov 20, 2023

Valve Reveals Its Working Steam Deck Prototypes

Steam Deck developer Pierre-Loup Griffais has unveiled a whole range of Valve’s

Steam Deck developer Pierre-Loup Griffais has unveiled a whole range of Valve's original working prototypes for the new handheld.

As part of the Steam Deck's launch event in Asia, Valve has put together a display of the Steam Deck's original prototypes, and Griffais has unveiled the never-before-seen line-up on Twitter.

"As part of the Asia launch press event, we made the design lab into a showroom of development history," he said. "My favorite are the playable prototypes: bootable Deck family tree from mid-2019 to now, from a couple of hand-built units onto gradual mass production."

As part of the Asia launch press event, we made the design lab into a showroom of development history. My favorite are the playable prototypes: bootable Deck family tree from mid-2019 to now, from a couple of hand-built units onto gradual mass production. pic.twitter.com/TpU5I8D50p

Valve's Steam Deck was released on February 25, 2022, but was in development for years. The above display depicts different iterations of the Steam Deck throughout its development from mid-2019 – showcasing the different designs the company went through before finalizing the Steam Deck.

While the basic elements have remained the same, the Deck has seen different experiments with colorways (including colored face buttons), D-Pads, sizes, button shapes, and more. It looks as though there was at least one version that was a fair bit slimmer, too.

"The best part is that they (mostly) all still boot, serving as an exciting reminder of how far things have come since," said Griffais, uploading a video of a Steam Deck prototype running (below). "This one has a Picasso APU, at about half of the GPU power of the final Deck. The flatter ergo was an interesting experiment and taught us a ton about comfort."

The best part is that they (mostly) all still boot, serving as an exciting reminder of how far things have come since.This one has a Picasso APU, at about half of the GPU power of the final Deck. The flatter ergo was an interesting experiment and taught us a ton about comfort. pic.twitter.com/yLwTtDDYlo

IGN's Steam Deck review gave it 7/10 and said: "When the Steam Deck is living up to its promises, it's absolutely incredible. Playing GTA 5, God of War, and other modern games on the go is an absolute joy, and the hardware and controls feel good to hold even though it's a big chubby boy of a handheld."

Considering the final Steam Deck is our favorite "big chubby boy" it makes you wonder how it would have played if the unit was a bit slimmer. I’m just not sure we’d want to give up the extra GPU power.

Want to read more about the Steam Deck? Check out the different Steam Deck models as well as when you can expect your Steam Deck to arrive.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.