It seems that every gamer is interested in the Steam Deck handheld gaming PC, but Valve just can’t make enough devices to meet the demand. Long waiting lists are the norm for Steam Deck, but cloning could quickly ease the tension.
Do you remember steam engines?
Before we explain why it’s likely that Steam Deck clones are coming, we need a quick history lesson. In 2015, Valve released its Steam Machine platform. These devices were pre-built PCs that looked like consoles and ran an early version of SteamOS.
While Steam Machines were unsuccessful for several reasons, they tell us a lot about Valve’s way of thinking. Valve didn’t make its own Steam Machine, but instead published a set of specifications that third-party manufacturers had to meet in order to use the Steam Machine name. Valve wasn’t interested in making hardware, but in getting Steam into more living rooms, taking it beyond the typical PC gamer space.
SteamOS, Valve’s custom Linux-based operating system for Steam Machines, was certainly not ready then. In the end, the Steam Machines idea didn’t catch on, but the Steam Deck essentially follows the same business model and philosophy. The main difference here is that Valve has kick-started the market by releasing a real product for gamers to buy.
The steam deck is a reference model
One way to look at the Steam Deck is as a reference model. It’s an example of what the standard Steam Deck experience should be. From its physical ergonomics to its GPU and CPU architecture and performance, the Steam Deck sets a certain standard at a certain price point.
Valve has done all the hard research and development work; other manufacturers should just use the Steam Deck as a starting point. Valve has even released the Steam Deck’s CAD files under a Creative Commons license, while the details of the AMD CPU and GPU used in the Deck are publicly available.
SteamOS is an open platform
What makes the Steam Deck special isn’t just the hardware and design; it’s the SteamOS software. Valve has invested a lot of time and money to get Windows games running on Linux through Proton. This work remains open source and will benefit all Linux gamers. SteamOS can be downloaded and installed by anyone under the “Build Your Own Steam Machine” banner.
This means that nothing stands in the way of third-party companies releasing their own Steam Deck clone, which runs the same software as a Steam Deck. These clones can have specs higher or lower than the Steam Deck, change every other aspect of it, or copy it exactly. Anything is possible, and from Valve’s point of view, every SteamOS device sold is a positive development for their bottom line.
Other portable gaming PCs aren’t great
The Steam Deck is far from the first portable PC to be marketed to gamers. The GPD Win-series computers and the Aya Neo are good examples of these devices. While most of them are quite impressive, they tend to have several common issues.
The first is that these devices are intended to run on Windows, which lacks the optimizations of SteamOS, making it far less expensive and less cluttered with non-gaming apps and features. These devices also use off-the-shelf hardware that is not intended for gaming, but is instead designed for use in ultrabooks. They are also significantly more expensive than a Steam Deck, in some cases more than double the price, while not being able to offer the same quality of gaming experience. Not to mention that the price of a Windows license is part of that price tag!
We expect existing players in the portable gaming PC market to want a slice of the Steam Deck pie, and they already have an established hardware manufacturing capability. It’s also a tempting opportunity for hardware makers outside of the mass gaming market to enter without significant R&D work or software development.
The market has spoken
Valve is no stranger to trying out new ideas with hardware, even if they end up flopping. For most companies, something like the Steam Deck would be a risky gamble, but for Valve it’s the kind of side project where the potential benefits far outweigh the risks.
For third-party players who may be able to bring Steam Deck clones to market, Valve has provided hard data that there is both hype and demand for the product. It’s almost certain that any competent Steam Deck clone would have no problem selling to the segment of the market that Valve can’t supply. With more competition in this new product category, we can only see good things for handheld gaming enthusiasts as competition lowers prices and encourages innovation.
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