Analyst: Despite similarities, Steam Deck ‘not in competition’ with Switch

As we discovered yesterday, Valve’s new Steam Deck product is a transportable sport gadget able to operating high-quality PC video games, priced within the $400 – $650 vary.

That sounds an terrible lot like what folks had been hoping for out of a technology advance for the Nintendo Change. However regardless of the similarities, analysts are saying these two merchandise might be serving very totally different markets.

Matthew Bailey, senior analyst at Gamasutra analysis accomplice Omdia, defined why: ” The principle level to make right here is that the Valve Steam Deck shouldn’t be seen as a direct competitor to the Change,” he stated.

“Certainly, each gadgets are going after two distinct markets, with the Change concentrating on extra informal, console players whereas the Steam Deck – which Valve is clearly pushing as a ‘PC’ gadget – will primarily goal current PC and Steam players.”

He stated that Omdia’s consumer analysis knowledge indicated just one in ten PC players owns a Nintendo Change sometimes as “a secondary gaming gadget.”

With out an excessive amount of fear about competitors from the Change (or vice versa), does Valve have any benefits in launching the Steam Deck? Bailey labeled it as a “low threat launch” since Valve is not depending on the Steam Deck for its major market. However with quite a few pandemic-driven provide shortages, Valve does face some threat of the gadget not promoting in addition to anticipated.

Analyst George Jijiashvili additionally identified that some Steam Deck homeowners would possibly face a barrier they do not discover on the Change–their most popular video games won’t work correctly on Steam’s Proton-based OS.

“According to crowd-sourced ProtonDB’s data, 30% of prime 100 non-Linux Steam video games are both unplayable or have vital points,” he said. “ Putting in Home windows on the Steam Deck is one thing that Valve permits, nevertheless it stays to be seen what kind of influence doing so would have on the battery life and general efficiency of the gadget.“

This is not the primary time Valve’s tried to get customisable, Steam-driven hardware off the ground, however for no matter cause the Change-adjacent {hardware} actually appears to have piqued the world’s curiosity.