Valve have opened repair centres for the Steam Deck. These are where you'll send your handheld PC if it develops a problem, either so Valve can fix it free-of-charge if it's still under warranty, or so they can diagnose the problem and quote you a repair price if it's not. "If your dog gnaws on your thumbstick and breaks it, this is not covered by warranty," say Valve.
The announcement post goes into some detail about the situations in which you can and cannot get your Steam Deck fixed for free.
If, for example, one of the buttons stops working - which Valve say is "rare, but it sometimes happens" - then you can contact support, ship the Deck off to a repair centre, and they'll fix the issue and post it back. No fuss. Then there's the dog example: you can still send in your Steam Deck and they'll still diagnose the issue, but they'll then send you a quote for the price of the fix, should a fix be possible. You can then either pay, or have your Steam Deck shipped back to you without the repair.
The announcement doesn't give a sense of what the price of repairs might be, but either way, I know I'd rather pay Valve than try to do it myself. The post does also link to repair kits and replacement parts available from iFixit, for those who are braver than I am.
Of course, there is another piece of Steam Deck news, which is arguably more exciting and definitely more cute. Valve have created a "special version of our Steam Pal mascot" to coincide with their launch in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. As seen below:
Introducing a special version of our Steam Pal mascot, created for our launch in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong! https://t.co/Do1D9QPqfr
I hope they turn it into a big felt suit and we see it on the Mondo Mascots Twitter account one day soon.
Graham used to be to blame for all this.
Subscribe and get access to supporter-only articles, an ad-free reading experience, free gifts, and game discounts. Your support helps us create more great writing about PC games.
Please enable JavaScript to see comments.
Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection will arrive on PC in October, leak suggests
Someone updated the Epic Games Store a bit hastily
The Division: Heartland's first trailer gives little away about the free-to-player shooter
It's set in the heartland, dontchaknow
Assassin's Creed is finally heading to feudal Japan, plus one with Blair Witch vibes
There's also one final Valhalla DLC to come
Assassin's Creed Infinity still exists, is still a confusing Assassin's Creed live service, maybe?
"Infinity is not a game, per se"
Today's Wordle answer (Sunday 11 September)
Hints and the answer to today's Wordle word
Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection will arrive on PC in October, leak suggests
Someone updated the Epic Games Store a bit hastily
The Division: Heartland's first trailer gives little away about the free-to-player shooter
It's set in the heartland, dontchaknow
Assassin's Creed Mirage is going back to the series' roots in 2023 for the 15th anniversary
A hands off presentation reveals that what's old is new again
Tyrant's Blessing's low pressure tactical puzzles let it punch above its weight
The only good surprise parties
The power of a Steam Next Fest demo
Where it all started for a lot of this week's reviews
5 weird games out in September that I might not have time to review but really want to
(But will hopefully play and write about at some point because they seem cool)
RPS@PAX West 2022: Our top highlights from the showfloor
RPS say goodbye to Seattle
We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes
Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes
Copyright © 2022 Gamer Network Limited, a ReedPop company.
All rights reserved. No part of this site or its content may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder.