Valve has announced that its talked about handheld gaming PC, the Steam Deck, has been delayed until 2022.
First shipments for the device, which were to go out in December, have now been pushed back to February. Everyone in the pre-order queue will maintain their position, just with a two-month delay.
Valve has cited issues with the global supply chain and ongoing material shortages for the delay as components aren’t reaching manufacturing facilities quickly enough.
The global chip shortage has been taking a toll on all console and handheld production with Nintendo last week dropping sales forecast for the Switch this fiscal year by 1.5 million due to the semiconductor shortage.
In addition, Bloomberg reports that Sony has revised console manufacture estimates downward – a planned target of 16 million consoles made by end of March 2022 has been cut down to 15 million due to shortages and logistical issues.
Frustration around the shortages is reportedly leading to a shift in player bases as one top Japanese game publisher tells the outlet players who used to buy PlayStation versions of its games are now gradually shifting to purchasing the PC edition.
Source: Kotaku
