The Steam Deck's dock has been delayed indefinitely due to several reasons, one of which is the most obvious.
steam deck dock
PCGamer reports that the delay was because of "parts shortages and COVID closures" at Valve's manufacturing facilities where the docks are being made. However, Valve didn't make it clear in the announcement when they expect the delay to end, and when they expect production to return to normal.
For now, the gaming industry giant only said that it is trying to improve the overall situation. Steam Deck owners who also ordered the dock (it is sold separately) will have to wait until there's official word of the delay ending.
Valve made the official announcement on Steam's news page, where they didn't reveal much. They did, however, say that the production schedules and reservation windows from the handhelds are not affected by the delay, since different parts are being sent to different factories - obviously.
The company also made it clear that they're working on improving the docking experience for the Steam Deck. They're trying to ensure compatibility with all external displays and USB-C hubs, so Deck owners won't run into too many problems with their handheld consoles.
Despite the Steam Deck dock getting delayed, however, the newly released handheld gaming PC is going strong after it was first released in February. It has seen a constant slew of updates including official Windows drivers, which now allowed users to install Windows on the Deck and use it as an actual PC.
Aside from that, the Deck Verified library has also seen steady growth since the console's release. As of April, the Deck already has over 2,000 Verified games, writes PCGamesN. By Verified, it means that the games can run flawlessly on the Valve handheld with no tweaks - straight out of the box.
Some games, however, remain on the other three compatibility categories: Playable, Unsupported, and Unknown. But with time, these titles will also be tested and moved to new statuses.
Read Also: Steam Deck 2 Is Already In The Works, Says Gabe Newell
The Steam Deck Dock At A Glance
Just like a Nintendo Switch, the Steam Deck can be docked and connected to an external display.
Detail of a Steam Deck handheld gaming console, taken on August 26, 2021.
The official specs for the dock are as follows, as reported by The Verge (via Review Geek):
- 3x USB-A 3.1
- Gigabit Ethernet port
- DisplayPort 1.4
- HDMI 2.0
These specs were actually updated from the original that Valve posted. At first, they designed the Deck to have 1 USB-A 3.1 port, with the other two being USB-A 2.0. But they decided to change all three ports to the much faster 3.1 version ahead of the Dock's original official release window, which was late Spring.
There also seems to be no videos of the dock working as of yet, leaked or official. But there are renders that came out of the dock (which Valve officially calls a "docking station") showing what looks like a minimalist design. Here's YouTuber Blaze2K reporting on the dock:
It is not known whether the dock will give the same features as that of the Nintendo Switch, but all that remains to be seen for now.
Related Article: LOOK: A Steam Deck Gets Attached To An External Graphics Card
Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
