Steam Deck Dock Won’t Enhance Performance, Says Valve

Valve’s upcoming handheld PC is a portal powerhouse. However, according to Valve, the Steam Deck dock isn’t going to enhance the device’s performance.

Valve Steam Deck Stick Drift
Credit: Valve

During a conversation with PC Gamer, Valve’s Gregg Coomer revealed that he thinks it’s “actually better, all things considered, to not modify based on docked status or mobile status”. The designer then went on to explain the reasons why the handheld’s experience is the same both on the go and when docked:

“We really wanted to prioritise for using it in what we thought would be the highest use case, which is actually mobile. And so since we were focusing on that – and we chose, like, a threshold where the machine will run well, and with a good frame rate – with AAA games in that scenario.

“We didn’t really feel like we should target also going after the dock scenario at higher resolutions. We wanted a simpler design target and to prioritise that.”

Sure, PC gamers perhaps expected more from the Deck’s mysterious dock counterpart. However, the decision to make the experience the same in both usage scenarios makes a lot of sense. After all, the Steam Deck is a completely different beast to that of the Nintendo Switch. In fact, you could say that Nintendo’s portable only needs two modes of play due to its low spec.

Steam Big Picture trailer
Credit: Valve

Let’s hope the Steam Deck is capable of providing a full desktop gaming experience. If not, the console’s Switch adjacent functionality could feel redundant, making traditional PC players feel disillusioned with the device.

Are you going to use a Steam Deck Dock? Let us know via our social media channels!

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Featured Image Credit: Valve