Valve’s Steam Deck Finally Has an Official Release Date

howtogeek.com:

PC gamers patiently waiting to get their hands on Valve’s portable gaming PC won’t have to wait much longer, as the company announced that it’s making the Steam Deck available to order on February 25, 2022.

Not only did the company announce that it would start taking orders for the highly-anticipated Steam Deck, but it also announced that the hardware would ship just three days later, on February 28, 2022. That means that if you actually manage to order one, you won’t have to wait very long to have the gaming PC in your hands.

Users who have already reserved a Steam Deck will receive an email with an invitation to purchase the device on launch day. They’ll have 72 hours to order their Steam Deck; otherwise, the invitation will be passed on to someone on the waitlist.

Additionally, you can only order the model you originally reserved, so if you’ve changed your mind and decided you want to go for a cheaper or more expensive model, you won’t be able to do so without forfeiting your place in line and starting over in the waitlist.

The money you already spent on the reservation will be applied to the final purchase price of the Steam Deck, so it won’t be wasted. However, if you don’t order in the first 72 hours, Valve didn’t say what would happen to the cash you put down.

If you didn’t reserve a Steam Deck and you aren’t already on the waitlist, your chances of getting one right away are zero. Valve did say that it plans to release new batches of orders weekly, but the company didn’t say how many would be available in these additional batches. You can join the waitlist now, but it’ll be a while before you’re invited to buy one.