We’ve been waiting for news on Steam Deck’s upcoming docking station but unfortunately, that’s been indefinitely delayed.
Having launched the handheld Steam Deck back in February, Valve confirmed it was looking to make Deck’s docking station “available in late spring.” With no news since, many fans began wondering if it’d still hit that target. However, according to a Steam news post, that’s no longer the case.
“Due to parts shortages and COVID closures at our manufacturing facilities, the official Steam Deck Docking Station is delayed,” Valve explains. “We’re working on improving the situation and will share more info when we have it. This has no effect on production schedule and reservation windows for Steam Decks (different parts, different factories).”
The official Steam Deck docking station includes three USB 3.1 ports, one HDMI 2.0 port, a DisplayPort 1.4, alongside a Gigabit Ethernet jack. Valve confirmed that with this new delay, it’ll spend this time to improve the docked experience for Steam Deck.
Third-party docking remains an option
It’s not all bad news for Steam Deck owners. For those of you looking to play off your TV or monitor, Deck’s USB-C port means any USB-C dock with its own power supply and video out can output this display. There’s a few third-party options that’ll achieve this, like the UGreen USB-C Multiport Adapter or j5create USB C Docking Station.
However, it’s hard to completely compare these options against the official docking station. Right now, we don’t know how much Valve’s option will cost, though if we had to speculate, its probably waiting until these external factors have been resolved before releasing pricing info. Here’s hoping it won’t be long before we get a further update.