Valve has released a massive Year in Review highlighting all of its achievements in 2024. It’s a big document, and it’s not all gripping reading, but one thing that stands out is its details on Valve’s hardware interests, particularly where Steam Deck is concerned. According to Valve, Steam Deck players spent 330 million hours playing in 2024, which was a 64% increase over 2023. I’d wager about 200 million of those hours were spent playing Balatro, but that’s just a guess.
That’s a pretty big jump for a pricey handheld that’s still considered fairly niche, though the influence of its playerbase is starting to show. Square Enix made the effort to highlight Steam Deck compatibility for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth earlier this year, and just yesterday, Ubisoft confirmed that Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be Verified on the Deck, after initially ruling it out. In other words, major publishers are now thinking about the burgeoning PC handheld market.
There’s not much else on Valve’s hardware interests that we don’t already know: the company celebrates the imminent release of SteamOS on the Lenovo Go S, which is a kind of poster child for an inevitable wave of “Powered by SteamOS” handhelds from third-parties. More exciting, is the prospect of installing SteamOS on existing handhelds like the ROG Ally X, or the latest MSI Claw.
“The future of hardware at Valve is bright,” the post reads. “Steam Deck, SteamOS and SteamVR are delivering tons of value to players and devs, built on top of a decade of investments into UI, linux compatibility, input support, custom silicon, motion tracking, displays, battery efficiency, and more. Every developer making PC games benefits from these investments, and players can now enjoy their PC games in so many new contexts. Hardware teams at Valve are delighted to see Steam in the living room, the airport, the backyard, and wherever else customers want to bring their library of PC games.”
It’s hard to be pessimistic about Valve’s position right now. While Steam Deck 2 is still a way away, and living room “Steam Machines” aren’t “a priority” right now, soon there won’t be anything stopping you from installing SteamOS on a more powerful handheld from another manufacturer, and nor will anything stop you from making your own SteamOS living room PC that would function like a console. And no matter what happens, Valve is still making sweet bank from its market-dominating storefront.
