Valve does not want to make the same mistake with Steam Deck as Nintendo did with the Joy-Con on the Switch.

On Reddit, a future user has shared a small email conversation they have done with Gabe Newell, the head of Valve. The first question was about the SSD replaceability in the Steam Deck (in the second and third-tier version, at least), to which he replied that the handheld PC will contain an M.2 2230 slot, and a small yes answer was the reply to the question „will the [399 USD/419 EUR] base model will have the slot, too?”

We’d mention that the SSD that the Steam Deck has isn’t meant to be replaced, as it will likely result in the void of the warranty, but let’s not forget that using an M.2 2230 SSD (which is small, and isn’t available on its own yet, unless you want to sell some of your body parts), as well as having 16 gigs of LPDDR5 RAM, are futureproofing the machine.

„We’ve done a ton of testing on reliability. I think we feel that this will perform well. And I think people will be super happy with it. I think that it’s going to be a great buy. I mean, every part will fail at some point, but we think people will be very satisfied and happy with this,” Valve hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat told IGN. „We didn’t want to take a risk on that, right? As I’m sure our customers don’t want us to take a risk on that either,” John Ikeda, a designer of Steam Deck, added, pointing out that Valve intentionally handpicked components with well-known records.

This subject is all about the analogue sticks on the Steam Deck. Valve has done its homework to avoid the situation that both Sony’s and Nintendo’s hardware has on the DualSense and the Joy-Con, respectively. This approach might avoid a lawsuit against Valve.

Source: WCCFTech, PCGamer