Valve delays Steam Deck into next year due to "material shortages"

Valve has announced a delay for Steam Deck; the portable gaming PC will no longer begin shipping at the end of this year as intially planned, and will now start making its way to customers in February 2022.

Those that successfully managed to surmount some early technical hitches and join the front of the queue when Steam Deck reservations opened back in July were originally due to receive their hardware in December this year. Unfortunately, those Christmases will now be just a little less merry thanks to disruptions in production caused by a lack of available parts.

"While we did our best to account for the global supply chain issues (by which we mean we factored in extra time to account for these risks and worked with multiple component vendors)," Valve explained in an update to its FAQ on the Steam Deck reservation page, "our manufacturing plans were still impacted."

"Material shortages and delays meant that components weren't making it to our manufacturing facilities on time," it continued. "Missing parts along with logistical challenges means delayed Steam Decks, so we needed to push out shipping by two months to February."

Valve notes that, despite the delay, all reservation holders will keep their place in line, meaning those at the front of the queue should likely expect movement on their Steam Decks in February, with shipping dates for everyone else shifting back accordingly.

Valve says it's aiming to start sending order invitations out by February 2022, and will "make every effort to convert all reservations to orders but [is] not able to guarantee availability."