For many, the best thing Gabe Newell has done in recent years is to keep Steam afloat as the first PC gaming service, and then Steam Deck. This portable PC has enamored millions of gamers and could continue to do so with a new version.
We know for a fact that Valve’s hardware ambitions didn’t end with Steam Deck. Over the past two years, Valve has suggested that it would like to see a standalone virtual reality headset, a new Steam Controller, and a Steam Deck revision with better battery and display.
Now, Valve may be preparing to launch at least one of its hardware ideas. South Korea’s National Radio Research Agency has certified a “low-power wireless device” from Valve with the designation “RC-V1V-1030.”
The South Korean certification tells us basically nothing about the device, except that it uses 5 GHz WiFi, which most computers already have by now. It could be anything.
But telecom regulators do not usually require certification for in-house prototypes, only if at least a small number of devices are to be imported into a country and perhaps offered for sale.
Valve’s device has not yet appeared in either the U.S. FCC or Bluetooth SIG databases, and may never appear in either.
Valve managed to get the Steam Deck past the FCC undetected by the press by having its Wi-Fi / Bluetooth vendor, Realtek, re-certify the wireless module instead of certifying the Steam Deck itself.
Virtual reality headset or Steam Deck 2
In 2021, Valve sources confirmed that, at the very least, a standalone virtual reality headset prototype codenamed Deckard was in the works, and last June some patent images were released.
But this device could be a Steam Deck upgrade (so you can install any game on your Steam Deck). In any case, it might be smart to announce it before Nintendo reveals its Nintendo Switch successor.
