Valve has published the CAD files, so if you have a 3D printer, you can create a pretty distinct look for Gabe Newell’s portable PC…

Valve has announced on Steam: “Hello! Good news for all the tinkerers, modders, accessory manufacturers, or folks who just want to 3D print a Steam Deck to see how it feels. Today, we’re making the CAD files for the external shell (surface topology) of Steam Deck available for download under a Creative Commons license. This includes an STP model, STL model, and drawings (DWG) for reference. You can find the files here. We’re looking forward to seeing what the community creates!”

That’s right: this is a pretty transparent move from Valve. For example, we haven’t seen anything like this from Sony or Nintendo, so Gabe Newell isn’t joking when his company says that it is indeed an open system, although they do not suggest replacing the built-in NVMe M.2 SSD that’s beside the point. Valve wrote the following in the file listing: “As mentioned in our ‘Take a look inside Steam Deck video, you have every right to open up your Steam Deck and do what you want with it. That said, we highly recommend you leave it to professionals. Your warranty will not cover any damage you do – but more importantly, you might break your Steam Deck or even get hurt! Be careful, and have fun.”

And true enough, we’re approaching the launch of Steam Deck, as the hardware will start shipping to the customers from February 28, and pre-orders for it were sold out in no time. No surprise, given the demand for the three models of portable PCs. The cheapest model (399 USD) comes with 64 GB eMMC storage, while the two more expensive versions (529 and 649 USD, respectively) will already have 256 or 512 GB NVMe SSDs, which is not much, but still faster storage based on initial reviews.

We’ll have to be careful with the battery life, though: we’ve written in the past that it runs out of juice pretty quickly…

Source: VGC