The Steam Deck now has an official release date

Valve’s mobile PC gaming platform, the Steam Deck, finally has a release date. Announced in a post on Steam’s forums, the console will finally be making its way out to gamers on February 25. Well, some gamers anyway. A lot of people may still have to wait a while longer. The Steam Deck has faced a few issues on the lead-up to its release. To be honest, most new tech releases have faced some issues, so it wasn’t really a surprise to hear that the Steam Deck would also be delayed.

There are a few things to make note of if you’ve ordered a Steam Deck. The console indeed launches on February 25, but you’ll likely not see yours until February 28. The post specifies that on February 25, those who made reservations will receive their order emails, they’ll then have 72 hours to actually purchase their Steam Deck. The post announcing the release date also mentioned that “reservation [deposits] will be applied to the final price of Steam Deck, and shipping costs are included.”

One step closer to PC gaming on the go

Here’s some more information if you’re still on the fence about whether you’ll get the Steam Deck or not. Cloud saves and the transferring of progress is one thing that many were concerned about before the Steam Deck’s release. Steam’s current Cloud Sync system is certainly robust, but some tweaks needed to be done to make it work efficiently for the Steam Deck. Valve has devised a Dynamic Cloud Sync system for the Steam Deck. What this does is upload the Cloud save for whatever game you’re playing prior to putting the system to sleep, allowing you to seamlessly move from the Steam Deck to your PC. With the normal Cloud Sync system on Steam, the game needs to be closed before it uploads the save data. Obviously, this would be a bit cumbersome on a mobile device, so this addition is welcomed.

(Image credit: Valve)

Some information was also discovered regarding the titles that have been ‘Verified’ and fully compatible on the Steam Deck. Via SteamDB, users can see which games have passed the verification process. The list that we’ve been seeing for the moment isn’t too extensive, but it’s a good thing to keep an eye on so you can make sure your favorite games work on the Steam Deck.

The Steam Deck’s release date is slowly approaching. February 25 can’t come any sooner that’s for sure. In the meantime, you can check out what’s going on in Steam’s 2022 Lunar New Year Sale. It’s the perfect time to grab some games that you can experience on the go.