Valve says that its upcoming handheld PC, the Steam Deck, is nearing the end of development – and the company has begun shipping out a limited number of dev kits for testing.
In a post on the Steam Store, Valve has confirmed that its upcoming Steam Deck is "in the final stages of development" and that the studio has started rolling out a dev kit program that will see a number of partner companies receive test build versions of the hardware.
In the post, Valve says that the launch of its dev kits will allow the company the chance to "guide game developers through the process of getting their games on Steam Deck while also continuing to gather their feedback as [it] prepare[s] for the official launch at the end of the year." The company has confirmed that Steam Deck models received by parter companies as part of the dev kit program will be functionally identical to what will ship to fans later this year.
If all goes to plan, developers receiving their test build models of the handheld shouldn't run into too many issues when trying out their games on the Steam Deck.
Despite a belief in some areas of the community that the portable PC's hardware specifications sound a little on the light side, Valve has said that it is confident that the portable PC will be future-proof. Not only does this mean that future releases for some time should be playable on the handheld but that the machine shouldn't run into any major problems during the testing period with partnered developers.
To further put doubts surrounding the console's capabilities to bed, in July, Steam Deck developer Pierre-Loup Griffais confirmed that the portable hardware had managed to run a range of titles released across this year with no issues on its 800p screen. Griffais pointed toward a benchmark 30 FPS target for the Steam Deck, which he said Valve considered to be the 'floor' of what it considered playable during performance testing.
While the Steam Deck itself doesn't yet have an exact release date, Valve's launch of the dev-kit program seems to indicate that the company is on track to deliver the handheld to fans in its current December release window. One fan of the handheld who's already had his hands on the Steam Deck is Xbox Boss Phil Spencer. The Microsoft Executive praised the device's feel and controls before also saying that running Xbox games such as Halo through Xbox Cloud Gaming feels good on the handheld.
For more on Valve's upcoming Steam Deck, make sure to check out our dedicated page for the portable PC where we've got a range of articles about the device including a rundown of how it compares to the Nintendo Switch and details surrounding how the Steam Deck's trackpad and gyro controls simulate the accuracy of a mouse.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN eagerly anticipating the Steam Deck's release. You can follow him on Twitter to tell him what you think about the upcoming handheld.