Even the cheapest version of the upcoming Steam Deck will support internal SSD cards, at least according to Valve president Gabe Newell. Many were surprised when Valve unveiled its new Steam Deck handheld out of the blue earlier this week, with many comparisons being made to the Nintendo Switch, as both feature a portable tablet that runs high-end games like the upcoming Halo Infinite or The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild wherever players wish.
While some people are naturally excited at the idea of taking their Steam libraries with them on the go, there are still plenty of concerns regarding the Steam Deck, such as its odd joystick and button layout possibly leading to discomfort. The main issue is storage space, as the most affordable of the Steam Deck’s three available versions tops out at a mere 64 GB of flash memory - which is fine for indie titles, but problematic if a player wishes to take their library of triple-A games with them on a long car ride to the family reunion.
Thankfully, the Steam Deck will give these players the option to upgrade their SSD cards, as stated by Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell. Industry insider and gaming soundtrack composer lashman confirmed this on Twitter by posting a screenshot of an email sent to Gabe asking about the cheapest version of the Steam Deck featuring an SSD slot, which allows tech-savvy players to insert an SSD card for more storage. Newell said “yes” to this unnamed fan -though Valve’s own Pierre-Loup Griffais (known online as Plagman) later noted that this may come with the caveat of voiding the Steam Deck’s warranty, as inserting the SSD card requires opening the system up in unsupported ways.
Even with the Steam Deck’s noted storage space concerns, the hype is already building up for the new handheld mere days after its announcement. Retailers are already crashing due to the sheer number of users looking to preorder the Steam Deck, and scalpers have begun to resell these preorders for outrageous prices on sites like eBay - a tale that is all too familiar to those who struggled to get their hands on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X when they came out last year.
Given just how massive modern video games can be, internal storage space is a make-or-break issue for any new gaming console - especially a handheld. Luckily, it seems Valve already has gamers covered when it comes to enhancing even the bargain version of the Steam Deck, though players might want to be careful with installing an SSD card if what Plagman says about possibly voiding the warranty is true. In any case, Steam users will be able to take PC gaming wherever they go once the Steam Deck launches this December, assuming they can navigate the complicated and frustrating preorder environment.
Source: lashman/Twitter