[Notebookcheck] Steam Deck 2 and Valve home console in the works as quiet Sony partnership hints at strategic alliance // Moore's Law Is Dead

SomeNorseGuy

Gold Member

Valve may be gearing up for a major hardware expansion, with speculation around a Steam Deck 2 and a dedicated home console gaining traction. A recent podcast discussion also hints at a quiet but strategic alignment between Valve and Sony in the handheld gaming space.
According to podcast host Tom from Moore's Law is Dead, internal leaks suggest Valve is working on a next-generation device with significantly more power, possibly based on AMD's upcoming Zen 6-based "Magnus" APU, which could also be powering the next-gen consoles from Sony or Microsoft. Unlike the first Steam Deck, which was initially seen as an experiment, this next device is allegedly being treated more like a proper console launch, with full-scale support and long-term vision.
What makes this even more interesting is Sony's quiet but consistent effort to support the Steam Deck, an observation highlighted by Jimmy during the podcast. He points out that multiple first-party PlayStation titles are now Steam Deck Verified, and that Sony has even released custom Steam Deck boot animations for games like God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, and The Last of Us, a level of support not mirrored by Microsoft. According to Jimmy, Sony's PC ports not only run well on the Deck, but the company appears committed to making them feel native to the platform.
This has led to speculation by the podcast hosts that Sony may view Valve as a less threatening ally in the handheld space compared to Microsoft. As discussed in the episode, with no true handheld PlayStation on the market, and the PlayStation Portal limited to streaming, the Steam Deck might currently serve as a sort of unofficial Sony handheld in practice, especially as more PlayStation exclusives continue to arrive on Steam.
As per the discussion in the podcast, if Valve does launch a dedicated home console alongside the Steam Deck 2, it would mark a new phase in its hardware ambitions, one where SteamOS becomes a legitimate competitor to Windows 11 for gaming, and the company challenges not just Xbox, but the entire console market on its own terms.
 
Sony x Valve would be cool just so we all end up being friends after all. :lollipop_content:
Arthands would probably disintegrate into dust when that happens lmfao.

200.gif
 
This has led to speculation by the podcast hosts that Sony may view Valve as a less threatening ally in the handheld space compared to Microsoft.
Well yeah if amphere are correct the entire pc handheld sold something like 6 million.

How much did some estimates put portal at, somethinbg like 2-3 million first year or something?

Yeah steamdeck is not competition, although the wider pc market defintley is and sony are stupid as fuck if they don't realise that.
 
Last edited:
Only way I would buy one of these is if I am able to have external programs run on it too, like Wemod…just as an example. If I don't have that freedom, then I will just stick with hooking up my gaming laptop to the tv.
 
I mean I don't see Sony doing much more than a minimal effort to get their PC games to run on Steam Deck Next.

Doubt we'll see Xbox Asus Handheld type of scenario.
I'm guessing this is Sony using the Steam Deck as a test platform to experiment with releasing and optimizing their games for their own potential handheld.
 
As long as I can buy that thing with my CS:GO / CS2 cases I bought for $40 some years ago ...
Big fan of the Deck, playing more games on it than on my PC. Also my PC is older than some Users here.
I could really need a whatever this thing will be - Deck 2 home console PC thing.
 
Sony would have to be very confident not many of their console users would be swayed by something that plays their games, xbox games, and a shit ton of PC stuff for any kind of close partnership.
 
History repeating itself with Sony's strategic alliance with Steam…to at the last moment Sony pull away and Valve emerges victorious with Sony's concept and name, then destroys the handheld pc market?
 
This an MLiD rumor so it's fake. But I would really like a Steam Deck 2.

Although if Sony is making an AMD handheld they probably would rather it use some custom Linux setup like SD rather than Windows. So maybe they have talked to Valve.
 
I don't really consider having good SD ports a partnership lol.

That being said I would love a new Steam Deck and a Steam console. I've been gaming on PC for over 20 years since the mid 90s minus a few years here and there, but I've always loved the simplicity of consoles and I've been split pretty much 50/50 for quite awhile despite undeniable improvements on the PC side.

Well yeah if amphere are correct the entire pc handheld sold something like 6 million.

How much did some estimates put portal at, somethinbg like 2-3 million first year or something?

Yeah steamdeck is not competition, although the wider pc market defintley is and sony are stupid as fuck if they don't realise that.
Yeah, I think it was around 2M which is pretty good considering.
  • Everybody said it was a useless device that nobody wanted since all it does it stream.
  • 2M sales in a little over a year as I believe the data was from early this year and it came out 11/2023. So 15 months.
  • PC handhelds in general sold around 6M in 3 years (data was from 2/2025 and the Deck released in 2/2022).
  • 3.7-4M of those 6M were Steam Deck alone.
So Portal sold at least 50% versus Steam Deck in roughly 40% of the time, and likely have outsold every single other PC handheld combined.
 
Although if Sony is making an AMD handheld they probably would rather it use some custom Linux setup like SD rather than Windows. So maybe they have talked to Valve.
Thats a bit of a disturbing thought. Hey Valve we would like to use your Steam OS for our new handheld but could you please add in a lock it down feature? :)
 
Sony x Valve would be cool just so we all end up being friends after all. :lollipop_content:
But I don't want to be friends with console gamers. I want a world with nothing but pain, strife, and misery, a world of constant system warfare where the only options are PC gaming or death.

Valve better not fuck up my dream.
 
Although if Sony is making an AMD handheld they probably would rather it use some custom Linux setup like SD rather than Windows. So maybe they have talked to Valve.
Playstation OS based on FreeBSD which is unix like, makes no sense to use whatever valve is using for playstation.
 
Last edited:
Thats a bit of a disturbing thought. Hey Valve we would like to use your Steam OS for our new handheld but could you please add in a lock it down feature? :)
Why would they use SteamOS and loose a cut from 3rd party sales when they are so experienced with FreeBSD?
SteamOS use would require some licensing too, since it's Arch linux based. Open source requires licenses for commercial use, unlike FreeBSD.
 

Valve may be gearing up for a major hardware expansion, with speculation around a Steam Deck 2 and a dedicated home console gaining traction. A recent podcast discussion also hints at a quiet but strategic alignment between Valve and Sony in the handheld gaming space.





Lol, GabeN took MS trying to dip their toes on his swimming pool VERY PERSONAL.

Steam&Sony would be for Xbox like last one out please close the door. 🥺
 
I have no idea about the source, but MS changing Xbox to become a Windows 11 based machine with console lipstick would be a logical step to counter a Steam Deck console form factor device.
Sony and Nintendo may threaten MS's console space, Valve is a long-term existential threat for the desktop.
 
That's the quiet part in the title. They aren't teaming up.
Yeah, if there's any truth to any of this I don't see it amounting to more then exchanging notes to make sure PS ports run nicely on future versions of SteamOS/Steam Deck.

But a dramatic reveal of a strategic team-up would be entertaining af. 😁
 
Sony has partnered with Valve in the past, would make sense for them to do so again.
If it means PS5 might get say a Native port of Half Life: Alyx then 👍
 
Doesn't this Youtuber mostly do random speculation that's usually wrong?
Either way I don't think Sony necessarily sees Steam deck as any more or less of a threat to Playstation than they do Steam/PC in general.

The main appeal of a hypothetical Sony handheld isn't going to be "Playstation first party games on the go", it's going to be "your playstation library on the go".
People who are heavily invested in PC gaming are unlikely to pick up a Sony handheld because they can carry over their existing library to a Steamdeck or any other Pc handheld.
People who are heavily invested in the Playstation ecosystem are likely going to buy a Sony handheld over a Deck because they can carry over their existing PSN library to it.
 
A console market is a holy grail for any ambitious gaming company. Having gained experience with the Steam Deck, Valve is now ready to take on the juggernauts Sony and Nintendo.
It's a potato grail for Valve that has Steam and mostly PC games. Doesn't make sense for them to release a console to compete with their handheld PCs and having to port everyone of their games to this console. Plus a console need exclusives to make sense its existence, imagine Valve releasing exclusives for this skipping PC... 🤦‍♂️
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom