Last July Valve Inc. revealed they were working on a powerful handheld called the Steam Deck — a PC clone that they claim can run virtually anything on the Steam platform. If you were one of the first to preorder the device, you might still be under the impression it will ship to you in one month. It won’t.
Valve had to confess today that manufacturing delays mean they won’t be able to sell the Steam Deck on the original date they promised. Anyone who had a reservation for the first batch (originally due out in December 2021) has now been moved to the first quarter of 2022. Those who had a Q1 2022 reserve slot have now been bumped to Q2, and so on.
I would say why this is happening, but it’s pretty obvious to anyone who’s kept up with the news over the past six months. COVID caused delays in overseas manufacturing, which caused some parts to become rare and/or expensive, causing the larger companies to over-order on supplies to compensate, causing a giant backup of shipments in the ocean, causing a scarcity of items and a rise in inflation and…yeah. They say it could take as long as a year to untangle. What it ultimately means is no Steam Deck for you this X-Mas.
But at least, for the quirkier among us, there’s still the Playdate….oh, wait. This has also been delayed into 2022, and though supply chain issues were mentioned, the real problem is that the battery parts the company were sent have proven to be defective. So they’ve got to order new batteries from a different place, which takes time, especially now. Those anticipating this system are likely very frustrated by now, as this is NOT the first delay for the Playdate.
Well, guess we’ll just have to make do with what we have. Unless you don’t have it. The number of Switch units being produced this holiday season has been cut.
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