In last year’s survey, 66% of developers reported working on games for PC, while this year’s number is significantly higher at 80%. In comparison, 38% of developers said they were working to put their game on PlayStation while 34% said they were developing for Xbox.
Now, GDC clarifies that “Steam Deck” was not specifically listed as a platform option in the survey. However, when answering which platforms they were developing for, 44% of respondents who chose “Other” did mention “the Steam Deck as a platform they’re interested in,” which potentially shows a significant focus on Valve’s handheld.
They’ll also have potentially more exposure, as many other companies have and will be coming out with SteamOS handhelds of their own. So if anyone had to choose, it might make more sense to skip the Switch 2.
Nintendo has moved over 140 million Switch consoles. The Switch 2 might become more, or less successful, but let’s just conservatively assume they’ll only sell half as many this time around.
Last time I checked, the entire Deck-like category amounted to some seven-digit number of sold devices. The idea that anyone targeting that level of performance is going to skip the Switch 2… is wildly unrealistic.