Steam Deck delayed because of 'global supply chain issues'
Valve's anticipated handheld is now expected to begin shipping in February 2022.
Valve has announced that the Steam Deck handheld gaming device will be delayed. It was initially expected to begin shipping in December, but because of "global supply chain issues," units won't actually begin going out until February 2022.
"We did our best to work around the global supply chain issues, but due to material shortages, components aren’t reaching our manufacturing facilities in time for us to meet our initial launch dates," Valve said.
"Based on our updated build estimates, Steam Deck will start shipping to customers February 2022. This will be the new start date of the reservation queue—all reservation holders keep their place in line but dates will shift back accordingly. Reservation date estimates will be updated shortly after this announcement."
Valve said that it will continue to "improve reservation dates based on the new timeline," and will update with new information as it becomes available. Expected shipping times based on your order date (Steam Deck reservations placed now are currently expected to begin shipping sometime in the second half of 2022) will be posted on the Steam Deck web page; for the moment, however, it has not been updated and still indicates the original December shipping date for initial orders.