Valve has confirmed that the Steam Deck won’t have any exclusive games, meaning players won’t need to own the handheld to access any specific titles. To some, this may not be a big surprise given the Steam Deck is essentially a PC. Unlike a PlayStation or Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck doesn’t have a specific OS or other unique intricacies, and instead will offer users the chance to play many games from their Steam PC library on the go.
Although Valve has largely cut down on its first-party game development over the last decade, some are hoping Steam Deck will see a resurgence for many of the developer’s lapsed franchises. 2020 saw the release of a new addition to the beloved Half-Life series with Half-Life: Alyx, a VR game that helped to bolster sales of Valve’s VR headset, the Valve Index. Some expected Valve to recreate this success with its upcoming hardware by releasing Steam Deck exclusives, and new rumors have already suggested that Valve is developing a Half-Life RTS for Steam Deck, though if true, it seems the game would also come to PC.
In a new Steam FAQ (via IGN), Valve has outlined some of the questions those looking to develop games for the handheld may ask. As well as addressing topics such as how to acquire a Steam Deck dev kit, the FAQ also answers more specific questions on the handheld’s inputs and capabilities. The FAQ goes on to confirm that Valve won’t be interested in having any Steam Deck exclusive titles due to its PC nature, with the company writing:
“[Exclusivity] doesn’t make much sense to us. It’s a PC and it should just play games like a PC.“
The news of no exclusives will likely be well-received by many, and it seems the device is aiming for player access to be at the forefront of its design. Steam Deck will allow users to use applications other than Steam thanks to the fact it’s essentially a mini-PC. Players will be able to install other services like Epic Games Store and even play Xbox games like Halo Infinite on the device when it releases. Of course, some games will need updates to work efficiently with Steam Deck, so that may be out of the question for Epic Games Store exclusives, but at least the option to try it is there. Whether or not the rumored Half-Life RTS will take advantage of specific features of the Steam Deck to make it a proper showcase for the system is unclear, but Valve will likely be building future games with the hardware in mind. Although it’s reported that Half-Life 3 isn’t currently in development, it seems likely it would also be on Steam Deck if Valve ever decides to make it.
It perhaps comes as no surprise that Valve doesn’t want to shut people out by making exclusive games for Steam Deck. Over the years, the company has often tried to make its games as accessible as possible across different hardware and even multiple platforms. Most notably, the Half-Life, Portal, and Left 4 Dead games all came to consoles even though Valve had the option to make them exclusive to Steam. Fans will have to wait a little longer to get their hands on Valve’s new handheld and experiment with everything it has to offer, with the Steam Deck recently delayed to 2022.
