Valve has distributed the Steam Deck development kit to developers
Two months ago, Valve released a Steam handheld called Steam Deck, using AMD’s custom APU called Van Gogh, equipped with a 7-inch 1280 x 800 IPS screen, 16GB of LPDDR5 memory, three versions of 64GB, 256GB, 512GB of storage space, running a customized Linux system, etc., pricing starts at $399.
Today Valve announced in the official Steam blog that the Steam Deck development kit has begun to be shipped to developers. It belongs to the “engineering verification test builds” and shows the photos before delivery. Valve said that the development kit is functionally identical to the version that will be officially launched later. Many manufacturers are inclined to this approach because they can leave as much time as possible for developers to verify and debug the operating conditions between software and hardware to solve possible problems. Distribute the Steam Deck development kit to developers in advance, and with more testing, it also provides Valve with a more direct device feedback channel.
On September 2, Valve opened an application for the early version of Steam Deck. Developers interested in applying need to join Valve’s Steamworks partner program, fill in the information and submit the necessary documents, provide bank account information and pay a fee of $100. After passing, you can proceed to apply for the early version of Steam Deck. It is understood that the number of Steam Deck development kits is limited, and Valve’s review will be stricter. It is not easy for developers to get a Steam Deck development kit.
The Steam Deck will be fully available in December this year, and there are only more than two months left before this node.
Last month, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s Xbox business, visited Valve and said that after a week of experience, he thought it was a very good device.
