Valve is already planning a Steam Deck 2 of some kind, despite the first Steam Deck launching globally today.

The news that Valve is already gearing up for some kind of upgraded Steam Deck offering comes from company president Gabe Newell, who said the most expensive variant of the current Steam Deck SKUs was “far and away” the most popular with their fans.

As such, Valve thinks consumers want an even more powerful and expensive version of the handheld, where we learn Valve is already planning a Steam Deck 2 of some kind.

“That’s why we always love to get something out there and ship it. Because we learn a lot from that, and it helps frame our thinking for Deck 2,” Newell said to EDGE Magazine (via PC Gamer).

He added, “They’re basically saying ‘We would like an even more expensive version of this’ in terms of horsepower capabilities or whatever.”

The Valve boss also proclaimed Steam Deck will be a “permanent addition” to PC gaming, likening it to a core part of that part of the industry.

“The second iterations are going to be more about: What are the capabilities that mobile gives us, above and beyond what you would get in a traditional desktop or laptop?,” Newell said.

Regardless of where Valve takes Steam Deck in the future, Newell noted “We’re not really there yet.” But it seems like a second Steam Deck is very much in the pipelines regardless.

Valve’s Steam Deck is launching today, February 25th, and is available in three flavors: $399 (64GB), $529 (256GB), and $649 (512GB), over on the Steam store.

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