Epic Games CEO and co-founder Tim Sweeney has strong praise for the newly-unveiled Steam Deck.
Just yesterday on July 15, Valve unveiled the Steam Deck, a brand new portable piece of hardware that lets users play their Steam library on the go. Shortly after the reveal, Tim Sweeney posted the tweet just below, outlining why he believed the new hardware was an "amazing move" by Valve.
Amazing move by Valve! A handheld PC/console hybrid running the SteamOS fork of Arch Linux, and it’s an open platform where users are free to install software or their choosing - including Windows and other stores. https://t.co/jf5TWUWGP5July 15, 2021
What's interesting here is that Sweeney specifically mentions the Steam Deck's ability to let users install PC storefronts of their choosing. As you'll no doubt know from Epic's ongoing legal battle against Apple, Sweeney is particularly keen to see the Epic Games Store on more devices. Allowing for Windows installs on Steam Deck means the Epic Games Store should be compatible too, but we'll have to wait and see if Epic comes up with any more plans to expand on Steam Deck specifically.
If that's the case, then the Steam Deck looks even more impressive. As many pointed out on Twitter yesterday, including games industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, Xbox is actually positioned to take huge advantage of the Steam Deck, as the device allows users to install storefronts and run the operating software of their choosing.
Xbox has gone big on PC gaming over the last few years, bringing over much of Xbox Game Pass's increasingly huge library over to its cloud play initiative. So far, we've seen the likes of Android and iOS users be able to play hundreds of Xbox games on the go through the new cloud streaming technology from Xbox. Could the Steam Deck be the next piece of hardware to utilize Xbox's cloud gaming push?
It's a pretty exciting time if you're a dedicated PC gamer, and the Steam Deck could shake things up in a big way. On the technical side of things, the Steam Deck has a 7" 1280x800 touch-enabled LCD screen with a 60Hz refresh rate, and the battery life can last for a maximum of 8 hours in total, depending on what you're playing. Valve's new device launches this December, and retails for a base $399/£349, with prices scaling up from there depending on the dedicated storage you choose.
For more on how to reserve your unit before it launches later this year, head over to our Steam Deck pre-order guide for more.
