Valve say don't crack open your Steam Deck but also show you how to do it
Take a peek at what's inside
We're getting closer to the first ship dates for Valve's handheld gaming PC Steam Deck. As PC hardware folks do, everyone apparently wants to see exactly what's inside. Naturally, Valve say they think you really shouldn't go opening the thing yourself, for reasons ranging from electrical safety to the warranty—which doesn't cover any damage you could cause by doing so, they say. So they're showing you exactly how to open it up in hopes that you'll leave doing so to a professional. Their new video today shows what will be inside your Steam Deck and how to remove a few of its parts.
"Spoiler alert: we DON'T recommend replacing parts yourself, but we still want you to have all of the relevant information about Steam Deck's components," Valve say of their new video right here. It is amusing to get a step-by-step tutorial for something they're begging you not to do at home. Good on 'em though for giving folks a decent look inside anyhow.
Back during its reveal, Valve said that they didn't take any chances with stick drift on the Steam Deck. "We purposely picked something that we knew the performance of," they said then.
In today's video, they do show how to detach the thumbsticks. They note that the entire stick assembly is custom and mention that in the coming months they'll be sharing a source for replacement parts, including thumbsticks. Even carefully-chosen parts can fail.
They also show off how to remove the Deck's SSD, though of course they also recommend you don't do that and opt to increase storage space with a MicroSD instead.
Valve also note that today's video shows off pre-production hardware, so there may be some differences yet between what you see here and what shows up on your doorstep. This is certainly the gist of it though, a nice look inside so you don't feel tempted to go digging around yourself.
As of last month, Steam Deck dev kits were getting shipped out. We've also heard that more major multiplayer games are on board with the Deck now that they've confirmed Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye compatibility.
Steam Deck pre-orders are expected to begin shipping in December of this year, so it won't be too much longer before we go hands on.