Valve delays Steam Deck launch two months to February 2022

Enlarge / Sorry to anyone who expected Steam Deck to launch by the end of 2021. (credit: Aurich Lawson vs DC Comics)

The Steam Deck, Valve's first "Switch-like" portable PC, has officially been delayed from its original December 2021 launch window. The company's Wednesday announcement confirmed that all orders have been "bumped two months," which means the SteamOS device will reach customers no earlier than February 2022.

"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," the company wrote in an update on the Steam Deck's official store page. Though Valve's statement doesn't say which materials caused the delay, it's likely that the global chip shortage is to blame.

Valve says it still plans to fulfill purchases for all three Steam Deck models in the order they were received. The company has already updated the system's Steam store page to inform customers of new shipment estimates, and Ars Technica can confirm that a previous "Q4 2021" order is now listed as coming in "Q1 2022."

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