Valve just passed along some unfortunate news today concerning the Steam Deck. Due to "global supply chain issues" the Steam Deck release has been pushed back by two months. The earliest Steam Deck will begin shipping has shifted from December 2021 to February 2022.
If reading the words "global supply chain issues" wasn't enough, I'll be more clear here. There is a big chip shortage that has been going on now for well over a year now. This is caused by complications caused by, you guessed it, COVID-19. If people aren't able to get to work due to illness or quarantine, then hardware just can't be made. This has been true now for CPUs, GPUs, and many other pieces of technology.
Valve's full public announcement can be read below if, for whatever reason, you cannot get to the Steam website to read it first-hand.
The launch of Steam Deck will be delayed by two months. We’re sorry about this—we did our best to work around the global supply chain issues, but due to material shortages, components aren’t reaching our manufacturing facilities in time for us to meet our initial launch dates.
Based on our updated build estimates, Steam Deck will start shipping to customers February 2022. This will be the new start date of the reservation queue—all reservation holders keep their place in line but dates will shift back accordingly. Reservation date estimates will be updated shortly after this announcement.
Again, we’re sorry we won’t be able to make our original ship date. We’ll continue working to improve reservation dates based on the new timeline, and will keep folks updated as we go.
To view your updated expected order availability and FAQ, please visit https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck.
Based on our updated build estimates, Steam Deck will start shipping to customers February 2022. This will be the new start date of the reservation queue—all reservation holders keep their place in line but dates will shift back accordingly. Reservation date estimates will be updated shortly after this announcement.
Again, we’re sorry we won’t be able to make our original ship date. We’ll continue working to improve reservation dates based on the new timeline, and will keep folks updated as we go.
To view your updated expected order availability and FAQ, please visit https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck.
