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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
One thing that hasn’t changed is its form factor — this is still one of the biggest babies on the handheld block.
The new Steam Deck’s main upgrade is its OLED screen, which replaces the original LCD and, crucially, has native support for HDR and faster frame rates. The OLED also has smaller bezels, making the display larger at 7.4 inches, compared with the original 7-inch screen.
Valve Valve Steam Deck OLED SCORE 89 Engadget 89 Critics - Not yet scored N/A Users - Not yet scored N/A Pros Improved battery life
Bright and smooth visuals
Better thermals
Feels less top-heavy
Long charging cable Cons Still ridiculously large
Seriously it’s so big
Valve Valve Steam Deck OLED This isn't the Steam Deck 2 some are waiting for, it's just a welcome improvement on an already good device. $549 at Steam
OLED screen
The HDR OLED display looks fantastic. It features a wider P3 color gamut, pure blacks and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, compared with the original max of 400 nits.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The OLED also has smaller bezels, making the display larger at 7.4 inches, compared with the original 7-inch screen.
Valve Valve Steam Deck OLED SCORE 89 Engadget 89 Critics - Not yet scored N/A Users - Not yet scored N/A Pros Improved battery life
Bright and smooth visuals
Better thermals
Feels less top-heavy
Long charging cable Cons Still ridiculously large
Seriously it’s so big
Valve Valve Steam Deck OLED This isn't the Steam Deck 2 some are waiting for, it's just a welcome improvement on an already good device. $549 at Steam
OLED screen
The HDR OLED display looks fantastic. It features a wider P3 color gamut, pure blacks and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, compared with the original max of 400 nits. In action, this means the screen’s bezels meld with the black of any game, creating a more polished frame for retro aspect ratios and providing room for higher-contrast colors.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Valve Valve Steam Deck OLED SCORE 89 Engadget 89 Critics - Not yet scored N/A Users - Not yet scored N/A Pros Improved battery life
Bright and smooth visuals
Better thermals
Feels less top-heavy
Long charging cable Cons Still ridiculously large
Seriously it’s so big
Valve Valve Steam Deck OLED This isn't the Steam Deck 2 some are waiting for, it's just a welcome improvement on an already good device. $549 at Steam
OLED screen
The HDR OLED display looks fantastic. It features a wider P3 color gamut, pure blacks and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, compared with the original max of 400 nits. In action, this means the screen’s bezels meld with the black of any game, creating a more polished frame for retro aspect ratios and providing room for higher-contrast colors. The screen on the new model doesn’t support variable refresh rates (VRR), but it now tops out at 90Hz, while the original could only hit 60Hz.
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12603
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
$549 at Steam
OLED screen
The HDR OLED display looks fantastic. It features a wider P3 color gamut, pure blacks and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, compared with the original max of 400 nits. In action, this means the screen’s bezels meld with the black of any game, creating a more polished frame for retro aspect ratios and providing room for higher-contrast colors. The screen on the new model doesn’t support variable refresh rates (VRR), but it now tops out at 90Hz, while the original could only hit 60Hz. The updated display is smooth, crisp and bright, like a perfect lemon tart. (Even then, I do not recommend licking the screen.)
Battery life
One of the downsides of the first Steam Deck was its short battery life, which maxed out at eight hours, and that was only under ideal conditions.
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12604
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
$549 at Steam
OLED screen
The HDR OLED display looks fantastic. It features a wider P3 color gamut, pure blacks and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, compared with the original max of 400 nits. In action, this means the screen’s bezels meld with the black of any game, creating a more polished frame for retro aspect ratios and providing room for higher-contrast colors. The screen on the new model doesn’t support variable refresh rates (VRR), but it now tops out at 90Hz, while the original could only hit 60Hz. The updated display is smooth, crisp and bright, like a perfect lemon tart. (Even then, I do not recommend licking the screen.)
Battery life
One of the downsides of the first Steam Deck was its short battery life, which maxed out at eight hours, and that was only under ideal conditions. Valve says the new Steam Deck battery will last 30 to 50 percent longer, depending on how you’re playing, and it charges faster — the company claims it will go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
In action, this means the screen’s bezels meld with the black of any game, creating a more polished frame for retro aspect ratios and providing room for higher-contrast colors. The screen on the new model doesn’t support variable refresh rates (VRR), but it now tops out at 90Hz, while the original could only hit 60Hz. The updated display is smooth, crisp and bright, like a perfect lemon tart. (Even then, I do not recommend licking the screen.)
Battery life
One of the downsides of the first Steam Deck was its short battery life, which maxed out at eight hours, and that was only under ideal conditions. Valve says the new Steam Deck battery will last 30 to 50 percent longer, depending on how you’re playing, and it charges faster — the company claims it will go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes.
Custom AMD APU
The Steam Deck OLED has a die-shrunk version of the custom AMD APU found in the original Steam Deck — same CPU and GPU, just more efficient.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The screen on the new model doesn’t support variable refresh rates (VRR), but it now tops out at 90Hz, while the original could only hit 60Hz. The updated display is smooth, crisp and bright, like a perfect lemon tart. (Even then, I do not recommend licking the screen.)
Battery life
One of the downsides of the first Steam Deck was its short battery life, which maxed out at eight hours, and that was only under ideal conditions. Valve says the new Steam Deck battery will last 30 to 50 percent longer, depending on how you’re playing, and it charges faster — the company claims it will go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes.
Custom AMD APU
The Steam Deck OLED has a die-shrunk version of the custom AMD APU found in the original Steam Deck — same CPU and GPU, just more efficient. This is the process Sony takes advantage of to build the PS4 Slim and PS5 Slim, but instead of collapsing the Steam Deck around smaller hardware, Valve chose to add a bigger battery and larger fan to its existing chassis.
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12607
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The updated display is smooth, crisp and bright, like a perfect lemon tart. (Even then, I do not recommend licking the screen.)
Battery life
One of the downsides of the first Steam Deck was its short battery life, which maxed out at eight hours, and that was only under ideal conditions. Valve says the new Steam Deck battery will last 30 to 50 percent longer, depending on how you’re playing, and it charges faster — the company claims it will go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes.
Custom AMD APU
The Steam Deck OLED has a die-shrunk version of the custom AMD APU found in the original Steam Deck — same CPU and GPU, just more efficient. This is the process Sony takes advantage of to build the PS4 Slim and PS5 Slim, but instead of collapsing the Steam Deck around smaller hardware, Valve chose to add a bigger battery and larger fan to its existing chassis. For developers, this means the device has the same performance targets as the original and there’s no need to create games specifically for the new hardware.
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12608
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Battery life
One of the downsides of the first Steam Deck was its short battery life, which maxed out at eight hours, and that was only under ideal conditions. Valve says the new Steam Deck battery will last 30 to 50 percent longer, depending on how you’re playing, and it charges faster — the company claims it will go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes.
Custom AMD APU
The Steam Deck OLED has a die-shrunk version of the custom AMD APU found in the original Steam Deck — same CPU and GPU, just more efficient. This is the process Sony takes advantage of to build the PS4 Slim and PS5 Slim, but instead of collapsing the Steam Deck around smaller hardware, Valve chose to add a bigger battery and larger fan to its existing chassis. For developers, this means the device has the same performance targets as the original and there’s no need to create games specifically for the new hardware. In the end, the device weighs about 30 grams less than the original model, or the equivalent of five quarters.
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12609
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Valve says the new Steam Deck battery will last 30 to 50 percent longer, depending on how you’re playing, and it charges faster — the company claims it will go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes.
Custom AMD APU
The Steam Deck OLED has a die-shrunk version of the custom AMD APU found in the original Steam Deck — same CPU and GPU, just more efficient. This is the process Sony takes advantage of to build the PS4 Slim and PS5 Slim, but instead of collapsing the Steam Deck around smaller hardware, Valve chose to add a bigger battery and larger fan to its existing chassis. For developers, this means the device has the same performance targets as the original and there’s no need to create games specifically for the new hardware. In the end, the device weighs about 30 grams less than the original model, or the equivalent of five quarters.
Engadget
In use
Which leads us to the bad news for my tiny hand gang.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Custom AMD APU
The Steam Deck OLED has a die-shrunk version of the custom AMD APU found in the original Steam Deck — same CPU and GPU, just more efficient. This is the process Sony takes advantage of to build the PS4 Slim and PS5 Slim, but instead of collapsing the Steam Deck around smaller hardware, Valve chose to add a bigger battery and larger fan to its existing chassis. For developers, this means the device has the same performance targets as the original and there’s no need to create games specifically for the new hardware. In the end, the device weighs about 30 grams less than the original model, or the equivalent of five quarters.
Engadget
In use
Which leads us to the bad news for my tiny hand gang. The Steam Deck OLED is the same monstrous size as the original: 11.7 inches long, 4.5 inches tall and nearly 2 inches thick. The thumbsticks on the new model are actually 1mm taller than the first version.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
This is the process Sony takes advantage of to build the PS4 Slim and PS5 Slim, but instead of collapsing the Steam Deck around smaller hardware, Valve chose to add a bigger battery and larger fan to its existing chassis. For developers, this means the device has the same performance targets as the original and there’s no need to create games specifically for the new hardware. In the end, the device weighs about 30 grams less than the original model, or the equivalent of five quarters.
Engadget
In use
Which leads us to the bad news for my tiny hand gang. The Steam Deck OLED is the same monstrous size as the original: 11.7 inches long, 4.5 inches tall and nearly 2 inches thick. The thumbsticks on the new model are actually 1mm taller than the first version. This was one of my main complaints about the Steam Deck when I first reviewed it: I have smaller-than-average hands, and the Steam Deck looks and feels absolutely ridiculous when I’m holding it.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
For developers, this means the device has the same performance targets as the original and there’s no need to create games specifically for the new hardware. In the end, the device weighs about 30 grams less than the original model, or the equivalent of five quarters.
Engadget
In use
Which leads us to the bad news for my tiny hand gang. The Steam Deck OLED is the same monstrous size as the original: 11.7 inches long, 4.5 inches tall and nearly 2 inches thick. The thumbsticks on the new model are actually 1mm taller than the first version. This was one of my main complaints about the Steam Deck when I first reviewed it: I have smaller-than-average hands, and the Steam Deck looks and feels absolutely ridiculous when I’m holding it. It’s just massive, no matter how long my manicure gets. However, the OLED model feels more balanced than the original. It’s less top-heavy, and it does technically weigh less.
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12613
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
In the end, the device weighs about 30 grams less than the original model, or the equivalent of five quarters.
Engadget
In use
Which leads us to the bad news for my tiny hand gang. The Steam Deck OLED is the same monstrous size as the original: 11.7 inches long, 4.5 inches tall and nearly 2 inches thick. The thumbsticks on the new model are actually 1mm taller than the first version. This was one of my main complaints about the Steam Deck when I first reviewed it: I have smaller-than-average hands, and the Steam Deck looks and feels absolutely ridiculous when I’m holding it. It’s just massive, no matter how long my manicure gets. However, the OLED model feels more balanced than the original. It’s less top-heavy, and it does technically weigh less. These small adjustments have made a noticeable difference during my playtime, and the device feels slightly more manageable as a handheld — or maybe I’m just too distracted by all of its bright, pretty colors to care about the cramping in my palms.
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12614
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The Steam Deck OLED is the same monstrous size as the original: 11.7 inches long, 4.5 inches tall and nearly 2 inches thick. The thumbsticks on the new model are actually 1mm taller than the first version. This was one of my main complaints about the Steam Deck when I first reviewed it: I have smaller-than-average hands, and the Steam Deck looks and feels absolutely ridiculous when I’m holding it. It’s just massive, no matter how long my manicure gets. However, the OLED model feels more balanced than the original. It’s less top-heavy, and it does technically weigh less. These small adjustments have made a noticeable difference during my playtime, and the device feels slightly more manageable as a handheld — or maybe I’m just too distracted by all of its bright, pretty colors to care about the cramping in my palms.
The thumbsticks on the new handheld have an improved texture that shouldn’t turn gray after a few months’ use, and they feel perfectly serviceable.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The thumbsticks on the new model are actually 1mm taller than the first version. This was one of my main complaints about the Steam Deck when I first reviewed it: I have smaller-than-average hands, and the Steam Deck looks and feels absolutely ridiculous when I’m holding it. It’s just massive, no matter how long my manicure gets. However, the OLED model feels more balanced than the original. It’s less top-heavy, and it does technically weigh less. These small adjustments have made a noticeable difference during my playtime, and the device feels slightly more manageable as a handheld — or maybe I’m just too distracted by all of its bright, pretty colors to care about the cramping in my palms.
The thumbsticks on the new handheld have an improved texture that shouldn’t turn gray after a few months’ use, and they feel perfectly serviceable. In my hands-on time so far, I've found that the OLED touchscreen responds immediately to input, and the haptic feedback on the built-in trackpads feels even more precise, populating in reactive pin-pricks under the textured plastic.
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12616
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
It’s just massive, no matter how long my manicure gets. However, the OLED model feels more balanced than the original. It’s less top-heavy, and it does technically weigh less. These small adjustments have made a noticeable difference during my playtime, and the device feels slightly more manageable as a handheld — or maybe I’m just too distracted by all of its bright, pretty colors to care about the cramping in my palms.
The thumbsticks on the new handheld have an improved texture that shouldn’t turn gray after a few months’ use, and they feel perfectly serviceable. In my hands-on time so far, I've found that the OLED touchscreen responds immediately to input, and the haptic feedback on the built-in trackpads feels even more precise, populating in reactive pin-pricks under the textured plastic.
I spent a few cozy nights on my couch swapping between the LCD and OLED Steam Decks, and honestly, after I’m done with this review, I’ll probably retire my original model.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
However, the OLED model feels more balanced than the original. It’s less top-heavy, and it does technically weigh less. These small adjustments have made a noticeable difference during my playtime, and the device feels slightly more manageable as a handheld — or maybe I’m just too distracted by all of its bright, pretty colors to care about the cramping in my palms.
The thumbsticks on the new handheld have an improved texture that shouldn’t turn gray after a few months’ use, and they feel perfectly serviceable. In my hands-on time so far, I've found that the OLED touchscreen responds immediately to input, and the haptic feedback on the built-in trackpads feels even more precise, populating in reactive pin-pricks under the textured plastic.
I spent a few cozy nights on my couch swapping between the LCD and OLED Steam Decks, and honestly, after I’m done with this review, I’ll probably retire my original model. The Steam Deck OLED is sharper and more responsive; indie games, AAA games and plain old Steam menus look so much better on the new hardware.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
These small adjustments have made a noticeable difference during my playtime, and the device feels slightly more manageable as a handheld — or maybe I’m just too distracted by all of its bright, pretty colors to care about the cramping in my palms.
The thumbsticks on the new handheld have an improved texture that shouldn’t turn gray after a few months’ use, and they feel perfectly serviceable. In my hands-on time so far, I've found that the OLED touchscreen responds immediately to input, and the haptic feedback on the built-in trackpads feels even more precise, populating in reactive pin-pricks under the textured plastic.
I spent a few cozy nights on my couch swapping between the LCD and OLED Steam Decks, and honestly, after I’m done with this review, I’ll probably retire my original model. The Steam Deck OLED is sharper and more responsive; indie games, AAA games and plain old Steam menus look so much better on the new hardware.
Engadget
Hades is my most-played game on the original Steam Deck, so I used that to test out Valve’s battery life claims.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The thumbsticks on the new handheld have an improved texture that shouldn’t turn gray after a few months’ use, and they feel perfectly serviceable. In my hands-on time so far, I've found that the OLED touchscreen responds immediately to input, and the haptic feedback on the built-in trackpads feels even more precise, populating in reactive pin-pricks under the textured plastic.
I spent a few cozy nights on my couch swapping between the LCD and OLED Steam Decks, and honestly, after I’m done with this review, I’ll probably retire my original model. The Steam Deck OLED is sharper and more responsive; indie games, AAA games and plain old Steam menus look so much better on the new hardware.
Engadget
Hades is my most-played game on the original Steam Deck, so I used that to test out Valve’s battery life claims. Though it doesn’t support HDR, a game like Hades pops on the OLED, and its animations look more fluid than on the LCD version.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
In my hands-on time so far, I've found that the OLED touchscreen responds immediately to input, and the haptic feedback on the built-in trackpads feels even more precise, populating in reactive pin-pricks under the textured plastic.
I spent a few cozy nights on my couch swapping between the LCD and OLED Steam Decks, and honestly, after I’m done with this review, I’ll probably retire my original model. The Steam Deck OLED is sharper and more responsive; indie games, AAA games and plain old Steam menus look so much better on the new hardware.
Engadget
Hades is my most-played game on the original Steam Deck, so I used that to test out Valve’s battery life claims. Though it doesn’t support HDR, a game like Hades pops on the OLED, and its animations look more fluid than on the LCD version. The OLED lasted four hours and 23 minutes before dying.
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12621
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
In my hands-on time so far, I've found that the OLED touchscreen responds immediately to input, and the haptic feedback on the built-in trackpads feels even more precise, populating in reactive pin-pricks under the textured plastic.
I spent a few cozy nights on my couch swapping between the LCD and OLED Steam Decks, and honestly, after I’m done with this review, I’ll probably retire my original model. The Steam Deck OLED is sharper and more responsive; indie games, AAA games and plain old Steam menus look so much better on the new hardware.
Engadget
Hades is my most-played game on the original Steam Deck, so I used that to test out Valve’s battery life claims. Though it doesn’t support HDR, a game like Hades pops on the OLED, and its animations look more fluid than on the LCD version. The OLED lasted four hours and 23 minutes before dying. With the same settings (800p with a 60 fps cap and similar brightness) the original model died after two hours and 42 minutes.
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12622
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
I spent a few cozy nights on my couch swapping between the LCD and OLED Steam Decks, and honestly, after I’m done with this review, I’ll probably retire my original model. The Steam Deck OLED is sharper and more responsive; indie games, AAA games and plain old Steam menus look so much better on the new hardware.
Engadget
Hades is my most-played game on the original Steam Deck, so I used that to test out Valve’s battery life claims. Though it doesn’t support HDR, a game like Hades pops on the OLED, and its animations look more fluid than on the LCD version. The OLED lasted four hours and 23 minutes before dying. With the same settings (800p with a 60 fps cap and similar brightness) the original model died after two hours and 42 minutes. That’s a 62 percent improvement, surpassing Valve’s own estimates, though batteries degrade and I’ve had my LCD Steam Deck since the device’s launch in early 2022.
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12623
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The Steam Deck OLED is sharper and more responsive; indie games, AAA games and plain old Steam menus look so much better on the new hardware.
Engadget
Hades is my most-played game on the original Steam Deck, so I used that to test out Valve’s battery life claims. Though it doesn’t support HDR, a game like Hades pops on the OLED, and its animations look more fluid than on the LCD version. The OLED lasted four hours and 23 minutes before dying. With the same settings (800p with a 60 fps cap and similar brightness) the original model died after two hours and 42 minutes. That’s a 62 percent improvement, surpassing Valve’s own estimates, though batteries degrade and I’ve had my LCD Steam Deck since the device’s launch in early 2022. In a stress test that involved playing Elden Ring with everything maxed out, the OLED battery lasted two hours and 20 minutes, about 40 percent longer than the original.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Engadget
Hades is my most-played game on the original Steam Deck, so I used that to test out Valve’s battery life claims. Though it doesn’t support HDR, a game like Hades pops on the OLED, and its animations look more fluid than on the LCD version. The OLED lasted four hours and 23 minutes before dying. With the same settings (800p with a 60 fps cap and similar brightness) the original model died after two hours and 42 minutes. That’s a 62 percent improvement, surpassing Valve’s own estimates, though batteries degrade and I’ve had my LCD Steam Deck since the device’s launch in early 2022. In a stress test that involved playing Elden Ring with everything maxed out, the OLED battery lasted two hours and 20 minutes, about 40 percent longer than the original.
Playing the Steam Decks back-to-back highlighted another significant quality-of-life improvement: heat management.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Engadget
Hades is my most-played game on the original Steam Deck, so I used that to test out Valve’s battery life claims. Though it doesn’t support HDR, a game like Hades pops on the OLED, and its animations look more fluid than on the LCD version. The OLED lasted four hours and 23 minutes before dying. With the same settings (800p with a 60 fps cap and similar brightness) the original model died after two hours and 42 minutes. That’s a 62 percent improvement, surpassing Valve’s own estimates, though batteries degrade and I’ve had my LCD Steam Deck since the device’s launch in early 2022. In a stress test that involved playing Elden Ring with everything maxed out, the OLED battery lasted two hours and 20 minutes, about 40 percent longer than the original.
Playing the Steam Decks back-to-back highlighted another significant quality-of-life improvement: heat management. My palms have gotten toasty playing the OLED model, but they haven’t broken a sweat like they often do with the original.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Though it doesn’t support HDR, a game like Hades pops on the OLED, and its animations look more fluid than on the LCD version. The OLED lasted four hours and 23 minutes before dying. With the same settings (800p with a 60 fps cap and similar brightness) the original model died after two hours and 42 minutes. That’s a 62 percent improvement, surpassing Valve’s own estimates, though batteries degrade and I’ve had my LCD Steam Deck since the device’s launch in early 2022. In a stress test that involved playing Elden Ring with everything maxed out, the OLED battery lasted two hours and 20 minutes, about 40 percent longer than the original.
Playing the Steam Decks back-to-back highlighted another significant quality-of-life improvement: heat management. My palms have gotten toasty playing the OLED model, but they haven’t broken a sweat like they often do with the original. The new fan may be larger, but it’s not any louder, and it clearly works a treat.
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12627
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The OLED lasted four hours and 23 minutes before dying. With the same settings (800p with a 60 fps cap and similar brightness) the original model died after two hours and 42 minutes. That’s a 62 percent improvement, surpassing Valve’s own estimates, though batteries degrade and I’ve had my LCD Steam Deck since the device’s launch in early 2022. In a stress test that involved playing Elden Ring with everything maxed out, the OLED battery lasted two hours and 20 minutes, about 40 percent longer than the original.
Playing the Steam Decks back-to-back highlighted another significant quality-of-life improvement: heat management. My palms have gotten toasty playing the OLED model, but they haven’t broken a sweat like they often do with the original. The new fan may be larger, but it’s not any louder, and it clearly works a treat.
The Steam Deck OLED has a new Wi-Fi 6E module and improved antennas that should enable faster downloads for anyone with a compatible router.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
That’s a 62 percent improvement, surpassing Valve’s own estimates, though batteries degrade and I’ve had my LCD Steam Deck since the device’s launch in early 2022. In a stress test that involved playing Elden Ring with everything maxed out, the OLED battery lasted two hours and 20 minutes, about 40 percent longer than the original.
Playing the Steam Decks back-to-back highlighted another significant quality-of-life improvement: heat management. My palms have gotten toasty playing the OLED model, but they haven’t broken a sweat like they often do with the original. The new fan may be larger, but it’s not any louder, and it clearly works a treat.
The Steam Deck OLED has a new Wi-Fi 6E module and improved antennas that should enable faster downloads for anyone with a compatible router. I don’t have a 6E router or multi-gigabit Wi-Fi, but with a regular Wi-Fi 6 router, the top download speed I saw on the new Steam Deck was 562mbps, which was about 10 percent faster than the old Steam Deck, and 10 percent slower than the speeds I get on my MacBook Pro.
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12629
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Playing the Steam Decks back-to-back highlighted another significant quality-of-life improvement: heat management. My palms have gotten toasty playing the OLED model, but they haven’t broken a sweat like they often do with the original. The new fan may be larger, but it’s not any louder, and it clearly works a treat.
The Steam Deck OLED has a new Wi-Fi 6E module and improved antennas that should enable faster downloads for anyone with a compatible router. I don’t have a 6E router or multi-gigabit Wi-Fi, but with a regular Wi-Fi 6 router, the top download speed I saw on the new Steam Deck was 562mbps, which was about 10 percent faster than the old Steam Deck, and 10 percent slower than the speeds I get on my MacBook Pro. The device uses Bluetooth 5.3 and adds a dedicated antenna, which should improve functionality when using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time.
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12630
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Playing the Steam Decks back-to-back highlighted another significant quality-of-life improvement: heat management. My palms have gotten toasty playing the OLED model, but they haven’t broken a sweat like they often do with the original. The new fan may be larger, but it’s not any louder, and it clearly works a treat.
The Steam Deck OLED has a new Wi-Fi 6E module and improved antennas that should enable faster downloads for anyone with a compatible router. I don’t have a 6E router or multi-gigabit Wi-Fi, but with a regular Wi-Fi 6 router, the top download speed I saw on the new Steam Deck was 562mbps, which was about 10 percent faster than the old Steam Deck, and 10 percent slower than the speeds I get on my MacBook Pro. The device uses Bluetooth 5.3 and adds a dedicated antenna, which should improve functionality when using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time.
Engadget
Even with improvements to the battery, thermals and weight distribution, the Steam Deck OLED is still more of a Wii U than a Vita.
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The new fan may be larger, but it’s not any louder, and it clearly works a treat.
The Steam Deck OLED has a new Wi-Fi 6E module and improved antennas that should enable faster downloads for anyone with a compatible router. I don’t have a 6E router or multi-gigabit Wi-Fi, but with a regular Wi-Fi 6 router, the top download speed I saw on the new Steam Deck was 562mbps, which was about 10 percent faster than the old Steam Deck, and 10 percent slower than the speeds I get on my MacBook Pro. The device uses Bluetooth 5.3 and adds a dedicated antenna, which should improve functionality when using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time.
Engadget
Even with improvements to the battery, thermals and weight distribution, the Steam Deck OLED is still more of a Wii U than a Vita. It’s a beast of a handheld, and it makes the most sense as a portable console to use around the house, rather than a truly travel-ready device.
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12632
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The Steam Deck OLED has a new Wi-Fi 6E module and improved antennas that should enable faster downloads for anyone with a compatible router. I don’t have a 6E router or multi-gigabit Wi-Fi, but with a regular Wi-Fi 6 router, the top download speed I saw on the new Steam Deck was 562mbps, which was about 10 percent faster than the old Steam Deck, and 10 percent slower than the speeds I get on my MacBook Pro. The device uses Bluetooth 5.3 and adds a dedicated antenna, which should improve functionality when using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time.
Engadget
Even with improvements to the battery, thermals and weight distribution, the Steam Deck OLED is still more of a Wii U than a Vita. It’s a beast of a handheld, and it makes the most sense as a portable console to use around the house, rather than a truly travel-ready device. The new model even comes with an extra-long, 2.5m charging cable, designed specifically with couch-based players in mind.
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12633
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
I don’t have a 6E router or multi-gigabit Wi-Fi, but with a regular Wi-Fi 6 router, the top download speed I saw on the new Steam Deck was 562mbps, which was about 10 percent faster than the old Steam Deck, and 10 percent slower than the speeds I get on my MacBook Pro. The device uses Bluetooth 5.3 and adds a dedicated antenna, which should improve functionality when using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time.
Engadget
Even with improvements to the battery, thermals and weight distribution, the Steam Deck OLED is still more of a Wii U than a Vita. It’s a beast of a handheld, and it makes the most sense as a portable console to use around the house, rather than a truly travel-ready device. The new model even comes with an extra-long, 2.5m charging cable, designed specifically with couch-based players in mind. I didn’t test out the docking station with the new Steam Deck, but Valve recently released a SteamOS update that lets players take advantage of HDR and VRR on external displays, which only drives home the Wii U-ness of it all.
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12634
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The device uses Bluetooth 5.3 and adds a dedicated antenna, which should improve functionality when using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time.
Engadget
Even with improvements to the battery, thermals and weight distribution, the Steam Deck OLED is still more of a Wii U than a Vita. It’s a beast of a handheld, and it makes the most sense as a portable console to use around the house, rather than a truly travel-ready device. The new model even comes with an extra-long, 2.5m charging cable, designed specifically with couch-based players in mind. I didn’t test out the docking station with the new Steam Deck, but Valve recently released a SteamOS update that lets players take advantage of HDR and VRR on external displays, which only drives home the Wii U-ness of it all.
As far as software, you know the drill by now. Valve has rolled out labels for Steam games signifying how well they’ll work on the handheld, with four levels: unknown, unsupported, playable and verified.
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12635
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Engadget
Even with improvements to the battery, thermals and weight distribution, the Steam Deck OLED is still more of a Wii U than a Vita. It’s a beast of a handheld, and it makes the most sense as a portable console to use around the house, rather than a truly travel-ready device. The new model even comes with an extra-long, 2.5m charging cable, designed specifically with couch-based players in mind. I didn’t test out the docking station with the new Steam Deck, but Valve recently released a SteamOS update that lets players take advantage of HDR and VRR on external displays, which only drives home the Wii U-ness of it all.
As far as software, you know the drill by now. Valve has rolled out labels for Steam games signifying how well they’ll work on the handheld, with four levels: unknown, unsupported, playable and verified. Playable games generally come with a small caveat, like having to deploy the on-screen keyboard, while verified games have been fully optimized for portable play.
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12636
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
It’s a beast of a handheld, and it makes the most sense as a portable console to use around the house, rather than a truly travel-ready device. The new model even comes with an extra-long, 2.5m charging cable, designed specifically with couch-based players in mind. I didn’t test out the docking station with the new Steam Deck, but Valve recently released a SteamOS update that lets players take advantage of HDR and VRR on external displays, which only drives home the Wii U-ness of it all.
As far as software, you know the drill by now. Valve has rolled out labels for Steam games signifying how well they’ll work on the handheld, with four levels: unknown, unsupported, playable and verified. Playable games generally come with a small caveat, like having to deploy the on-screen keyboard, while verified games have been fully optimized for portable play. Currently, more than 10,000 titles on Steam fall under the playable or verified labels, with more added every day.
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12637
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The new model even comes with an extra-long, 2.5m charging cable, designed specifically with couch-based players in mind. I didn’t test out the docking station with the new Steam Deck, but Valve recently released a SteamOS update that lets players take advantage of HDR and VRR on external displays, which only drives home the Wii U-ness of it all.
As far as software, you know the drill by now. Valve has rolled out labels for Steam games signifying how well they’ll work on the handheld, with four levels: unknown, unsupported, playable and verified. Playable games generally come with a small caveat, like having to deploy the on-screen keyboard, while verified games have been fully optimized for portable play. Currently, more than 10,000 titles on Steam fall under the playable or verified labels, with more added every day.
When will the Steam Deck OLED be available?
The Steam Deck OLED will go on sale on November 16th at 1pm ET, and Valve has units ready to ship that same day.
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12638
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
I didn’t test out the docking station with the new Steam Deck, but Valve recently released a SteamOS update that lets players take advantage of HDR and VRR on external displays, which only drives home the Wii U-ness of it all.
As far as software, you know the drill by now. Valve has rolled out labels for Steam games signifying how well they’ll work on the handheld, with four levels: unknown, unsupported, playable and verified. Playable games generally come with a small caveat, like having to deploy the on-screen keyboard, while verified games have been fully optimized for portable play. Currently, more than 10,000 titles on Steam fall under the playable or verified labels, with more added every day.
When will the Steam Deck OLED be available?
The Steam Deck OLED will go on sale on November 16th at 1pm ET, and Valve has units ready to ship that same day. The company has lowered the price of its LCD lineup and will sell through its backstock of 64GB and 512GB models until they’re all gone.
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12639
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
As far as software, you know the drill by now. Valve has rolled out labels for Steam games signifying how well they’ll work on the handheld, with four levels: unknown, unsupported, playable and verified. Playable games generally come with a small caveat, like having to deploy the on-screen keyboard, while verified games have been fully optimized for portable play. Currently, more than 10,000 titles on Steam fall under the playable or verified labels, with more added every day.
When will the Steam Deck OLED be available?
The Steam Deck OLED will go on sale on November 16th at 1pm ET, and Valve has units ready to ship that same day. The company has lowered the price of its LCD lineup and will sell through its backstock of 64GB and 512GB models until they’re all gone. It’ll continue selling the 256GB LCD model at a reduced price of $400, while the 512GB OLED model will cost $550 and the 1TB OLED model will cost $650.
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12640
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Playable games generally come with a small caveat, like having to deploy the on-screen keyboard, while verified games have been fully optimized for portable play. Currently, more than 10,000 titles on Steam fall under the playable or verified labels, with more added every day.
When will the Steam Deck OLED be available?
The Steam Deck OLED will go on sale on November 16th at 1pm ET, and Valve has units ready to ship that same day. The company has lowered the price of its LCD lineup and will sell through its backstock of 64GB and 512GB models until they’re all gone. It’ll continue selling the 256GB LCD model at a reduced price of $400, while the 512GB OLED model will cost $550 and the 1TB OLED model will cost $650. There’s also a limited edition 1TB OLED version priced at $680 that comes with a special carrying case, a translucent gray body and orange accents.
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12641
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Currently, more than 10,000 titles on Steam fall under the playable or verified labels, with more added every day.
When will the Steam Deck OLED be available?
The Steam Deck OLED will go on sale on November 16th at 1pm ET, and Valve has units ready to ship that same day. The company has lowered the price of its LCD lineup and will sell through its backstock of 64GB and 512GB models until they’re all gone. It’ll continue selling the 256GB LCD model at a reduced price of $400, while the 512GB OLED model will cost $550 and the 1TB OLED model will cost $650. There’s also a limited edition 1TB OLED version priced at $680 that comes with a special carrying case, a translucent gray body and orange accents.
Valve
Wrap-up
According to the developers I spoke with at Valve, this is the definitive version of the Steam Deck.
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12642
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Currently, more than 10,000 titles on Steam fall under the playable or verified labels, with more added every day.
When will the Steam Deck OLED be available?
The Steam Deck OLED will go on sale on November 16th at 1pm ET, and Valve has units ready to ship that same day. The company has lowered the price of its LCD lineup and will sell through its backstock of 64GB and 512GB models until they’re all gone. It’ll continue selling the 256GB LCD model at a reduced price of $400, while the 512GB OLED model will cost $550 and the 1TB OLED model will cost $650. There’s also a limited edition 1TB OLED version priced at $680 that comes with a special carrying case, a translucent gray body and orange accents.
Valve
Wrap-up
According to the developers I spoke with at Valve, this is the definitive version of the Steam Deck. The HDR OLED model is what they would have released the first time around, if the technology had existed before 2022.
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12643
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
When will the Steam Deck OLED be available?
The Steam Deck OLED will go on sale on November 16th at 1pm ET, and Valve has units ready to ship that same day. The company has lowered the price of its LCD lineup and will sell through its backstock of 64GB and 512GB models until they’re all gone. It’ll continue selling the 256GB LCD model at a reduced price of $400, while the 512GB OLED model will cost $550 and the 1TB OLED model will cost $650. There’s also a limited edition 1TB OLED version priced at $680 that comes with a special carrying case, a translucent gray body and orange accents.
Valve
Wrap-up
According to the developers I spoke with at Valve, this is the definitive version of the Steam Deck. The HDR OLED model is what they would have released the first time around, if the technology had existed before 2022. The handheld market has evolved quickly — in just over a year, the Steam Deck proved there’s widespread demand for handheld PCs, and its success helped drive chip makers and display manufacturers to build hardware specifically for high-fidelity mobile play.
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12644
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
It’ll continue selling the 256GB LCD model at a reduced price of $400, while the 512GB OLED model will cost $550 and the 1TB OLED model will cost $650. There’s also a limited edition 1TB OLED version priced at $680 that comes with a special carrying case, a translucent gray body and orange accents.
Valve
Wrap-up
According to the developers I spoke with at Valve, this is the definitive version of the Steam Deck. The HDR OLED model is what they would have released the first time around, if the technology had existed before 2022. The handheld market has evolved quickly — in just over a year, the Steam Deck proved there’s widespread demand for handheld PCs, and its success helped drive chip makers and display manufacturers to build hardware specifically for high-fidelity mobile play. This is great news for Valve and the Steam Deck, and also the other handhelds coming out of companies like Ayaneo, ASUS, Ayn, Logitech, Retroid and Razer.
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12645
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
There’s also a limited edition 1TB OLED version priced at $680 that comes with a special carrying case, a translucent gray body and orange accents.
Valve
Wrap-up
According to the developers I spoke with at Valve, this is the definitive version of the Steam Deck. The HDR OLED model is what they would have released the first time around, if the technology had existed before 2022. The handheld market has evolved quickly — in just over a year, the Steam Deck proved there’s widespread demand for handheld PCs, and its success helped drive chip makers and display manufacturers to build hardware specifically for high-fidelity mobile play. This is great news for Valve and the Steam Deck, and also the other handhelds coming out of companies like Ayaneo, ASUS, Ayn, Logitech, Retroid and Razer. Hell, maybe even Playdate will get an HDR OLED display one day. (Just kidding; Playdate is literally perfect).
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12646
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
There’s also a limited edition 1TB OLED version priced at $680 that comes with a special carrying case, a translucent gray body and orange accents.
Valve
Wrap-up
According to the developers I spoke with at Valve, this is the definitive version of the Steam Deck. The HDR OLED model is what they would have released the first time around, if the technology had existed before 2022. The handheld market has evolved quickly — in just over a year, the Steam Deck proved there’s widespread demand for handheld PCs, and its success helped drive chip makers and display manufacturers to build hardware specifically for high-fidelity mobile play. This is great news for Valve and the Steam Deck, and also the other handhelds coming out of companies like Ayaneo, ASUS, Ayn, Logitech, Retroid and Razer. Hell, maybe even Playdate will get an HDR OLED display one day. (Just kidding; Playdate is literally perfect).
So, no, the HDR OLED refresh isn't the Steam Deck 2, but it is a welcome improvement on an already good device.
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12647
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Valve
Wrap-up
According to the developers I spoke with at Valve, this is the definitive version of the Steam Deck. The HDR OLED model is what they would have released the first time around, if the technology had existed before 2022. The handheld market has evolved quickly — in just over a year, the Steam Deck proved there’s widespread demand for handheld PCs, and its success helped drive chip makers and display manufacturers to build hardware specifically for high-fidelity mobile play. This is great news for Valve and the Steam Deck, and also the other handhelds coming out of companies like Ayaneo, ASUS, Ayn, Logitech, Retroid and Razer. Hell, maybe even Playdate will get an HDR OLED display one day. (Just kidding; Playdate is literally perfect).
So, no, the HDR OLED refresh isn't the Steam Deck 2, but it is a welcome improvement on an already good device. The Steam Deck OLED is the facetuned, photoshopped, spit-shined version of Valve’s handheld, and it features tangible, clever improvements.
|
12648
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
The HDR OLED model is what they would have released the first time around, if the technology had existed before 2022. The handheld market has evolved quickly — in just over a year, the Steam Deck proved there’s widespread demand for handheld PCs, and its success helped drive chip makers and display manufacturers to build hardware specifically for high-fidelity mobile play. This is great news for Valve and the Steam Deck, and also the other handhelds coming out of companies like Ayaneo, ASUS, Ayn, Logitech, Retroid and Razer. Hell, maybe even Playdate will get an HDR OLED display one day. (Just kidding; Playdate is literally perfect).
So, no, the HDR OLED refresh isn't the Steam Deck 2, but it is a welcome improvement on an already good device. The Steam Deck OLED is the facetuned, photoshopped, spit-shined version of Valve’s handheld, and it features tangible, clever improvements. The updated display is the highlight of the device, while things like faster charging, improved antennas and smoother haptics are welcome bonuses.
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12649
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
This is great news for Valve and the Steam Deck, and also the other handhelds coming out of companies like Ayaneo, ASUS, Ayn, Logitech, Retroid and Razer. Hell, maybe even Playdate will get an HDR OLED display one day. (Just kidding; Playdate is literally perfect).
So, no, the HDR OLED refresh isn't the Steam Deck 2, but it is a welcome improvement on an already good device. The Steam Deck OLED is the facetuned, photoshopped, spit-shined version of Valve’s handheld, and it features tangible, clever improvements. The updated display is the highlight of the device, while things like faster charging, improved antennas and smoother haptics are welcome bonuses. More importantly, this is Valve renewing its commitment to portable PC gaming, and that’s a relief to see. The Steam Deck is the granddaddy of handheld PCs and Valve has the resources to continue innovating in this space.
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12650
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Steam Deck OLED review: It's just better
Hell, maybe even Playdate will get an HDR OLED display one day. (Just kidding; Playdate is literally perfect).
So, no, the HDR OLED refresh isn't the Steam Deck 2, but it is a welcome improvement on an already good device. The Steam Deck OLED is the facetuned, photoshopped, spit-shined version of Valve’s handheld, and it features tangible, clever improvements. The updated display is the highlight of the device, while things like faster charging, improved antennas and smoother haptics are welcome bonuses. More importantly, this is Valve renewing its commitment to portable PC gaming, and that’s a relief to see. The Steam Deck is the granddaddy of handheld PCs and Valve has the resources to continue innovating in this space. For now, the OLED model is a half-step toward the Steam Deck 2, which may be the final version of the device — unless Valve finally learns how to count to three.
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12651
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Tim Sweeney finally has a win.
On Monday, a federal jury surprised the world by siding with Fortnite maker Epic Games in its fight to break Google’s control over Android apps — even though “walled garden” rival Apple almost entirely won a similar case two years ago. The nine-person jury decided that Google has an illegal monopoly over Android app distribution and in-app payment systems, and that Google illegally tied its Google Play billing system to its app store.
Sweeney is Epic’s CEO, co-founder, and importantly its controlling shareholder. He’s the one behind these lawsuits, and it was his idea to challenge these companies in court. It’s been his fight from the very beginning, and he watched almost the entire trial in person from the best seat in the house — with a clear view of the jury, the judge, each witness, and the faces of Google’s lawyers.
Last night, I asked him why, what he learned, and what’s next.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
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12652
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
The nine-person jury decided that Google has an illegal monopoly over Android app distribution and in-app payment systems, and that Google illegally tied its Google Play billing system to its app store.
Sweeney is Epic’s CEO, co-founder, and importantly its controlling shareholder. He’s the one behind these lawsuits, and it was his idea to challenge these companies in court. It’s been his fight from the very beginning, and he watched almost the entire trial in person from the best seat in the house — with a clear view of the jury, the judge, each witness, and the faces of Google’s lawyers.
Last night, I asked him why, what he learned, and what’s next.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Thank you for being here with us. It’s been a very engaging trial to watch. I’ve been there every day of the trial, and you’ve been there every day save one.
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12653
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
The nine-person jury decided that Google has an illegal monopoly over Android app distribution and in-app payment systems, and that Google illegally tied its Google Play billing system to its app store.
Sweeney is Epic’s CEO, co-founder, and importantly its controlling shareholder. He’s the one behind these lawsuits, and it was his idea to challenge these companies in court. It’s been his fight from the very beginning, and he watched almost the entire trial in person from the best seat in the house — with a clear view of the jury, the judge, each witness, and the faces of Google’s lawyers.
Last night, I asked him why, what he learned, and what’s next.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Thank you for being here with us. It’s been a very engaging trial to watch. I’ve been there every day of the trial, and you’ve been there every day save one. So my first question is why did you personally attend this trial every day save one — and what the heck happened on that one day?
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12654
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Sweeney is Epic’s CEO, co-founder, and importantly its controlling shareholder. He’s the one behind these lawsuits, and it was his idea to challenge these companies in court. It’s been his fight from the very beginning, and he watched almost the entire trial in person from the best seat in the house — with a clear view of the jury, the judge, each witness, and the faces of Google’s lawyers.
Last night, I asked him why, what he learned, and what’s next.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Thank you for being here with us. It’s been a very engaging trial to watch. I’ve been there every day of the trial, and you’ve been there every day save one. So my first question is why did you personally attend this trial every day save one — and what the heck happened on that one day?
Yeah, Epic is asking a lot of the court system and the jury here, spending four weeks on a major antitrust trial full of complicated facts and evidence.
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12655
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
It’s been his fight from the very beginning, and he watched almost the entire trial in person from the best seat in the house — with a clear view of the jury, the judge, each witness, and the faces of Google’s lawyers.
Last night, I asked him why, what he learned, and what’s next.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Thank you for being here with us. It’s been a very engaging trial to watch. I’ve been there every day of the trial, and you’ve been there every day save one. So my first question is why did you personally attend this trial every day save one — and what the heck happened on that one day?
Yeah, Epic is asking a lot of the court system and the jury here, spending four weeks on a major antitrust trial full of complicated facts and evidence. It wouldn’t be right to start something like this and not show up. So I had to do that.
|
12656
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Last night, I asked him why, what he learned, and what’s next.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Thank you for being here with us. It’s been a very engaging trial to watch. I’ve been there every day of the trial, and you’ve been there every day save one. So my first question is why did you personally attend this trial every day save one — and what the heck happened on that one day?
Yeah, Epic is asking a lot of the court system and the jury here, spending four weeks on a major antitrust trial full of complicated facts and evidence. It wouldn’t be right to start something like this and not show up. So I had to do that. And, you know, Phil Schiller sat throughout the entire Epic v. Apple trial, as did I, so I think it’s just necessary to show respect for the legal process.
What happened on that one day you weren’t here?
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12657
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Thank you for being here with us. It’s been a very engaging trial to watch. I’ve been there every day of the trial, and you’ve been there every day save one. So my first question is why did you personally attend this trial every day save one — and what the heck happened on that one day?
Yeah, Epic is asking a lot of the court system and the jury here, spending four weeks on a major antitrust trial full of complicated facts and evidence. It wouldn’t be right to start something like this and not show up. So I had to do that. And, you know, Phil Schiller sat throughout the entire Epic v. Apple trial, as did I, so I think it’s just necessary to show respect for the legal process.
What happened on that one day you weren’t here?
Oh — sorry I can’t share, but there were some... non-Epic issues I had to deal with.
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12658
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Thank you for being here with us. It’s been a very engaging trial to watch. I’ve been there every day of the trial, and you’ve been there every day save one. So my first question is why did you personally attend this trial every day save one — and what the heck happened on that one day?
Yeah, Epic is asking a lot of the court system and the jury here, spending four weeks on a major antitrust trial full of complicated facts and evidence. It wouldn’t be right to start something like this and not show up. So I had to do that. And, you know, Phil Schiller sat throughout the entire Epic v. Apple trial, as did I, so I think it’s just necessary to show respect for the legal process.
What happened on that one day you weren’t here?
Oh — sorry I can’t share, but there were some... non-Epic issues I had to deal with.
So this trial has been four years in the making.
|
12659
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
It’s been a very engaging trial to watch. I’ve been there every day of the trial, and you’ve been there every day save one. So my first question is why did you personally attend this trial every day save one — and what the heck happened on that one day?
Yeah, Epic is asking a lot of the court system and the jury here, spending four weeks on a major antitrust trial full of complicated facts and evidence. It wouldn’t be right to start something like this and not show up. So I had to do that. And, you know, Phil Schiller sat throughout the entire Epic v. Apple trial, as did I, so I think it’s just necessary to show respect for the legal process.
What happened on that one day you weren’t here?
Oh — sorry I can’t share, but there were some... non-Epic issues I had to deal with.
So this trial has been four years in the making. I look back at a September 2019 email that was in discovery about a plan to draw Google into a legal battle over antitrust.
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12660
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
So my first question is why did you personally attend this trial every day save one — and what the heck happened on that one day?
Yeah, Epic is asking a lot of the court system and the jury here, spending four weeks on a major antitrust trial full of complicated facts and evidence. It wouldn’t be right to start something like this and not show up. So I had to do that. And, you know, Phil Schiller sat throughout the entire Epic v. Apple trial, as did I, so I think it’s just necessary to show respect for the legal process.
What happened on that one day you weren’t here?
Oh — sorry I can’t share, but there were some... non-Epic issues I had to deal with.
So this trial has been four years in the making. I look back at a September 2019 email that was in discovery about a plan to draw Google into a legal battle over antitrust. Can you describe what it felt like, after four years, to hear the jury find for Epic?
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12661
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Yeah, Epic is asking a lot of the court system and the jury here, spending four weeks on a major antitrust trial full of complicated facts and evidence. It wouldn’t be right to start something like this and not show up. So I had to do that. And, you know, Phil Schiller sat throughout the entire Epic v. Apple trial, as did I, so I think it’s just necessary to show respect for the legal process.
What happened on that one day you weren’t here?
Oh — sorry I can’t share, but there were some... non-Epic issues I had to deal with.
So this trial has been four years in the making. I look back at a September 2019 email that was in discovery about a plan to draw Google into a legal battle over antitrust. Can you describe what it felt like, after four years, to hear the jury find for Epic?
Well, it’s a great day for all developers to see that the Sherman Antitrust Act works in the new era of tech monopolies; we’ve not had a major antitrust verdict against a tech company that meant change and benefits for everybody since the 1990s, with the US v. Microsoft.
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12662
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
And, you know, Phil Schiller sat throughout the entire Epic v. Apple trial, as did I, so I think it’s just necessary to show respect for the legal process.
What happened on that one day you weren’t here?
Oh — sorry I can’t share, but there were some... non-Epic issues I had to deal with.
So this trial has been four years in the making. I look back at a September 2019 email that was in discovery about a plan to draw Google into a legal battle over antitrust. Can you describe what it felt like, after four years, to hear the jury find for Epic?
Well, it’s a great day for all developers to see that the Sherman Antitrust Act works in the new era of tech monopolies; we’ve not had a major antitrust verdict against a tech company that meant change and benefits for everybody since the 1990s, with the US v. Microsoft. Back in the early days of the internet.
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12663
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
What happened on that one day you weren’t here?
Oh — sorry I can’t share, but there were some... non-Epic issues I had to deal with.
So this trial has been four years in the making. I look back at a September 2019 email that was in discovery about a plan to draw Google into a legal battle over antitrust. Can you describe what it felt like, after four years, to hear the jury find for Epic?
Well, it’s a great day for all developers to see that the Sherman Antitrust Act works in the new era of tech monopolies; we’ve not had a major antitrust verdict against a tech company that meant change and benefits for everybody since the 1990s, with the US v. Microsoft. Back in the early days of the internet. So this is an awesome thing and it’s much needed by the industry which is being strangled by a few gatekeepers imposing insane amounts of control and extracting huge taxes, which not only raise prices for consumers but also make a lot of kinds of products just unviable.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
So this trial has been four years in the making. I look back at a September 2019 email that was in discovery about a plan to draw Google into a legal battle over antitrust. Can you describe what it felt like, after four years, to hear the jury find for Epic?
Well, it’s a great day for all developers to see that the Sherman Antitrust Act works in the new era of tech monopolies; we’ve not had a major antitrust verdict against a tech company that meant change and benefits for everybody since the 1990s, with the US v. Microsoft. Back in the early days of the internet. So this is an awesome thing and it’s much needed by the industry which is being strangled by a few gatekeepers imposing insane amounts of control and extracting huge taxes, which not only raise prices for consumers but also make a lot of kinds of products just unviable.
I understand the significance, but... you were there in person.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
I look back at a September 2019 email that was in discovery about a plan to draw Google into a legal battle over antitrust. Can you describe what it felt like, after four years, to hear the jury find for Epic?
Well, it’s a great day for all developers to see that the Sherman Antitrust Act works in the new era of tech monopolies; we’ve not had a major antitrust verdict against a tech company that meant change and benefits for everybody since the 1990s, with the US v. Microsoft. Back in the early days of the internet. So this is an awesome thing and it’s much needed by the industry which is being strangled by a few gatekeepers imposing insane amounts of control and extracting huge taxes, which not only raise prices for consumers but also make a lot of kinds of products just unviable.
I understand the significance, but... you were there in person. You had a smile on your face, you shook the Google attorney’s hand, you clapped Bornstein on the back.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Can you describe what it felt like, after four years, to hear the jury find for Epic?
Well, it’s a great day for all developers to see that the Sherman Antitrust Act works in the new era of tech monopolies; we’ve not had a major antitrust verdict against a tech company that meant change and benefits for everybody since the 1990s, with the US v. Microsoft. Back in the early days of the internet. So this is an awesome thing and it’s much needed by the industry which is being strangled by a few gatekeepers imposing insane amounts of control and extracting huge taxes, which not only raise prices for consumers but also make a lot of kinds of products just unviable.
I understand the significance, but... you were there in person. You had a smile on your face, you shook the Google attorney’s hand, you clapped Bornstein on the back. How did you feel in that moment?
Well, it was a great relief.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Well, it’s a great day for all developers to see that the Sherman Antitrust Act works in the new era of tech monopolies; we’ve not had a major antitrust verdict against a tech company that meant change and benefits for everybody since the 1990s, with the US v. Microsoft. Back in the early days of the internet. So this is an awesome thing and it’s much needed by the industry which is being strangled by a few gatekeepers imposing insane amounts of control and extracting huge taxes, which not only raise prices for consumers but also make a lot of kinds of products just unviable.
I understand the significance, but... you were there in person. You had a smile on your face, you shook the Google attorney’s hand, you clapped Bornstein on the back. How did you feel in that moment?
Well, it was a great relief. The conventional wisdom that attorneys tell you is that when there’s a rapid jury verdict, it’s typically not good for the plaintiffs making a complicated case, and so there was some trepidation going on — but it was awesome to see.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Back in the early days of the internet. So this is an awesome thing and it’s much needed by the industry which is being strangled by a few gatekeepers imposing insane amounts of control and extracting huge taxes, which not only raise prices for consumers but also make a lot of kinds of products just unviable.
I understand the significance, but... you were there in person. You had a smile on your face, you shook the Google attorney’s hand, you clapped Bornstein on the back. How did you feel in that moment?
Well, it was a great relief. The conventional wisdom that attorneys tell you is that when there’s a rapid jury verdict, it’s typically not good for the plaintiffs making a complicated case, and so there was some trepidation going on — but it was awesome to see.
Something that we’d suspected all along was the jury was really following the case carefully.
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12669
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Back in the early days of the internet. So this is an awesome thing and it’s much needed by the industry which is being strangled by a few gatekeepers imposing insane amounts of control and extracting huge taxes, which not only raise prices for consumers but also make a lot of kinds of products just unviable.
I understand the significance, but... you were there in person. You had a smile on your face, you shook the Google attorney’s hand, you clapped Bornstein on the back. How did you feel in that moment?
Well, it was a great relief. The conventional wisdom that attorneys tell you is that when there’s a rapid jury verdict, it’s typically not good for the plaintiffs making a complicated case, and so there was some trepidation going on — but it was awesome to see.
Something that we’d suspected all along was the jury was really following the case carefully. They weren’t snoozing off as you might expect with the complexity of these documents and things — everybody was paying attention, they’re looking at the question asker and the witness and taking notes and reading documents.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
I understand the significance, but... you were there in person. You had a smile on your face, you shook the Google attorney’s hand, you clapped Bornstein on the back. How did you feel in that moment?
Well, it was a great relief. The conventional wisdom that attorneys tell you is that when there’s a rapid jury verdict, it’s typically not good for the plaintiffs making a complicated case, and so there was some trepidation going on — but it was awesome to see.
Something that we’d suspected all along was the jury was really following the case carefully. They weren’t snoozing off as you might expect with the complexity of these documents and things — everybody was paying attention, they’re looking at the question asker and the witness and taking notes and reading documents. It was just awesome to see that the justice system works, even with the most complex type of tech antitrust case that you can possibly throw at a jury.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
I understand the significance, but... you were there in person. You had a smile on your face, you shook the Google attorney’s hand, you clapped Bornstein on the back. How did you feel in that moment?
Well, it was a great relief. The conventional wisdom that attorneys tell you is that when there’s a rapid jury verdict, it’s typically not good for the plaintiffs making a complicated case, and so there was some trepidation going on — but it was awesome to see.
Something that we’d suspected all along was the jury was really following the case carefully. They weren’t snoozing off as you might expect with the complexity of these documents and things — everybody was paying attention, they’re looking at the question asker and the witness and taking notes and reading documents. It was just awesome to see that the justice system works, even with the most complex type of tech antitrust case that you can possibly throw at a jury.
[Editor’s note: Every journalist in the courtroom agreed the jury was attentive; most were also surprised by the rapid verdict.]
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
How did you feel in that moment?
Well, it was a great relief. The conventional wisdom that attorneys tell you is that when there’s a rapid jury verdict, it’s typically not good for the plaintiffs making a complicated case, and so there was some trepidation going on — but it was awesome to see.
Something that we’d suspected all along was the jury was really following the case carefully. They weren’t snoozing off as you might expect with the complexity of these documents and things — everybody was paying attention, they’re looking at the question asker and the witness and taking notes and reading documents. It was just awesome to see that the justice system works, even with the most complex type of tech antitrust case that you can possibly throw at a jury.
[Editor’s note: Every journalist in the courtroom agreed the jury was attentive; most were also surprised by the rapid verdict.]
They got it, they got it quickly, and they were able to pull apart what was going on and contrast it with the fiction of the story that Google was trying to tell.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Something that we’d suspected all along was the jury was really following the case carefully. They weren’t snoozing off as you might expect with the complexity of these documents and things — everybody was paying attention, they’re looking at the question asker and the witness and taking notes and reading documents. It was just awesome to see that the justice system works, even with the most complex type of tech antitrust case that you can possibly throw at a jury.
[Editor’s note: Every journalist in the courtroom agreed the jury was attentive; most were also surprised by the rapid verdict.]
They got it, they got it quickly, and they were able to pull apart what was going on and contrast it with the fiction of the story that Google was trying to tell.
What was something that surprised you in the courtroom, something you heard come to light that you hadn’t heard before?
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Something that we’d suspected all along was the jury was really following the case carefully. They weren’t snoozing off as you might expect with the complexity of these documents and things — everybody was paying attention, they’re looking at the question asker and the witness and taking notes and reading documents. It was just awesome to see that the justice system works, even with the most complex type of tech antitrust case that you can possibly throw at a jury.
[Editor’s note: Every journalist in the courtroom agreed the jury was attentive; most were also surprised by the rapid verdict.]
They got it, they got it quickly, and they were able to pull apart what was going on and contrast it with the fiction of the story that Google was trying to tell.
What was something that surprised you in the courtroom, something you heard come to light that you hadn’t heard before?
I’d suspected a lot of the practices that Google had, you know, since 2018 or so when we first started this, to such an extent that some folks would occasionally call me a conspiracy theorist.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
It was just awesome to see that the justice system works, even with the most complex type of tech antitrust case that you can possibly throw at a jury.
[Editor’s note: Every journalist in the courtroom agreed the jury was attentive; most were also surprised by the rapid verdict.]
They got it, they got it quickly, and they were able to pull apart what was going on and contrast it with the fiction of the story that Google was trying to tell.
What was something that surprised you in the courtroom, something you heard come to light that you hadn’t heard before?
I’d suspected a lot of the practices that Google had, you know, since 2018 or so when we first started this, to such an extent that some folks would occasionally call me a conspiracy theorist. It was really, really interesting to see that my understandings of what Google was doing behind the scenes were actually true — you’re leaking our conversations to reporters to get negative stories written about us; you’re paying other developers off to convince them not to launch their own stores; they were going around and paying carriers and OEMs secretly not to carry competing stores.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
[Editor’s note: Every journalist in the courtroom agreed the jury was attentive; most were also surprised by the rapid verdict.]
They got it, they got it quickly, and they were able to pull apart what was going on and contrast it with the fiction of the story that Google was trying to tell.
What was something that surprised you in the courtroom, something you heard come to light that you hadn’t heard before?
I’d suspected a lot of the practices that Google had, you know, since 2018 or so when we first started this, to such an extent that some folks would occasionally call me a conspiracy theorist. It was really, really interesting to see that my understandings of what Google was doing behind the scenes were actually true — you’re leaking our conversations to reporters to get negative stories written about us; you’re paying other developers off to convince them not to launch their own stores; they were going around and paying carriers and OEMs secretly not to carry competing stores.
And when we tried to bundle Fortnite with other smartphone manufacturers like OnePlus and carriers of all sorts, they told us they couldn’t do a deal because Google had done a secret deal with them.
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12677
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
What was something that surprised you in the courtroom, something you heard come to light that you hadn’t heard before?
I’d suspected a lot of the practices that Google had, you know, since 2018 or so when we first started this, to such an extent that some folks would occasionally call me a conspiracy theorist. It was really, really interesting to see that my understandings of what Google was doing behind the scenes were actually true — you’re leaking our conversations to reporters to get negative stories written about us; you’re paying other developers off to convince them not to launch their own stores; they were going around and paying carriers and OEMs secretly not to carry competing stores.
And when we tried to bundle Fortnite with other smartphone manufacturers like OnePlus and carriers of all sorts, they told us they couldn’t do a deal because Google had done a secret deal with them.
It was really disconcerting to see the extent of bad faith efforts that were going on in a company of Google’s size.
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12678
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
I’d suspected a lot of the practices that Google had, you know, since 2018 or so when we first started this, to such an extent that some folks would occasionally call me a conspiracy theorist. It was really, really interesting to see that my understandings of what Google was doing behind the scenes were actually true — you’re leaking our conversations to reporters to get negative stories written about us; you’re paying other developers off to convince them not to launch their own stores; they were going around and paying carriers and OEMs secretly not to carry competing stores.
And when we tried to bundle Fortnite with other smartphone manufacturers like OnePlus and carriers of all sorts, they told us they couldn’t do a deal because Google had done a secret deal with them.
It was really disconcerting to see the extent of bad faith efforts that were going on in a company of Google’s size. You’d think a trillion-dollar company would develop to the point where they have pretty respectable processes and leadership structures that provide a check and balance against wrongdoing, but they were rampantly destroying all their chats on these topics.
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12679
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
It was really, really interesting to see that my understandings of what Google was doing behind the scenes were actually true — you’re leaking our conversations to reporters to get negative stories written about us; you’re paying other developers off to convince them not to launch their own stores; they were going around and paying carriers and OEMs secretly not to carry competing stores.
And when we tried to bundle Fortnite with other smartphone manufacturers like OnePlus and carriers of all sorts, they told us they couldn’t do a deal because Google had done a secret deal with them.
It was really disconcerting to see the extent of bad faith efforts that were going on in a company of Google’s size. You’d think a trillion-dollar company would develop to the point where they have pretty respectable processes and leadership structures that provide a check and balance against wrongdoing, but they were rampantly destroying all their chats on these topics.
You’d see long conversation threads would start to get into a spicy antitrust issue, and suddenly somebody points out the history’s on and the chat goes silent.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
And when we tried to bundle Fortnite with other smartphone manufacturers like OnePlus and carriers of all sorts, they told us they couldn’t do a deal because Google had done a secret deal with them.
It was really disconcerting to see the extent of bad faith efforts that were going on in a company of Google’s size. You’d think a trillion-dollar company would develop to the point where they have pretty respectable processes and leadership structures that provide a check and balance against wrongdoing, but they were rampantly destroying all their chats on these topics.
You’d see long conversation threads would start to get into a spicy antitrust issue, and suddenly somebody points out the history’s on and the chat goes silent. They just turned it off to have the documents destroyed. It was great to see that all called out in detail.
Any particular evidence where you’re like, “Oh wow, I never saw that, and now that specific thing came out for the world to see”?
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
And when we tried to bundle Fortnite with other smartphone manufacturers like OnePlus and carriers of all sorts, they told us they couldn’t do a deal because Google had done a secret deal with them.
It was really disconcerting to see the extent of bad faith efforts that were going on in a company of Google’s size. You’d think a trillion-dollar company would develop to the point where they have pretty respectable processes and leadership structures that provide a check and balance against wrongdoing, but they were rampantly destroying all their chats on these topics.
You’d see long conversation threads would start to get into a spicy antitrust issue, and suddenly somebody points out the history’s on and the chat goes silent. They just turned it off to have the documents destroyed. It was great to see that all called out in detail.
Any particular evidence where you’re like, “Oh wow, I never saw that, and now that specific thing came out for the world to see”?
As an employee of Epic, I’ve not been able to see Google’s internal documents until the trial started.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
It was really disconcerting to see the extent of bad faith efforts that were going on in a company of Google’s size. You’d think a trillion-dollar company would develop to the point where they have pretty respectable processes and leadership structures that provide a check and balance against wrongdoing, but they were rampantly destroying all their chats on these topics.
You’d see long conversation threads would start to get into a spicy antitrust issue, and suddenly somebody points out the history’s on and the chat goes silent. They just turned it off to have the documents destroyed. It was great to see that all called out in detail.
Any particular evidence where you’re like, “Oh wow, I never saw that, and now that specific thing came out for the world to see”?
As an employee of Epic, I’ve not been able to see Google’s internal documents until the trial started. The lawyers can see them, but I saw almost all the key elements in this case at the same time the jury saw them. Two things stand out big time.
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12683
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
You’d think a trillion-dollar company would develop to the point where they have pretty respectable processes and leadership structures that provide a check and balance against wrongdoing, but they were rampantly destroying all their chats on these topics.
You’d see long conversation threads would start to get into a spicy antitrust issue, and suddenly somebody points out the history’s on and the chat goes silent. They just turned it off to have the documents destroyed. It was great to see that all called out in detail.
Any particular evidence where you’re like, “Oh wow, I never saw that, and now that specific thing came out for the world to see”?
As an employee of Epic, I’ve not been able to see Google’s internal documents until the trial started. The lawyers can see them, but I saw almost all the key elements in this case at the same time the jury saw them. Two things stand out big time. Google’s Project Hug was an astonishingly corrupt effort at a massive scale — the same corrupt deal structure they tried to do with Epic when they wanted to pay us off to launch Fortnite on Google Play and not launch our own store.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
You’d see long conversation threads would start to get into a spicy antitrust issue, and suddenly somebody points out the history’s on and the chat goes silent. They just turned it off to have the documents destroyed. It was great to see that all called out in detail.
Any particular evidence where you’re like, “Oh wow, I never saw that, and now that specific thing came out for the world to see”?
As an employee of Epic, I’ve not been able to see Google’s internal documents until the trial started. The lawyers can see them, but I saw almost all the key elements in this case at the same time the jury saw them. Two things stand out big time. Google’s Project Hug was an astonishingly corrupt effort at a massive scale — the same corrupt deal structure they tried to do with Epic when they wanted to pay us off to launch Fortnite on Google Play and not launch our own store.
As soon as we thwarted their effort, they went around to 27 different developers and offered each one a payoff to undermine any effort we had to get their games onto our store exclusively.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
They just turned it off to have the documents destroyed. It was great to see that all called out in detail.
Any particular evidence where you’re like, “Oh wow, I never saw that, and now that specific thing came out for the world to see”?
As an employee of Epic, I’ve not been able to see Google’s internal documents until the trial started. The lawyers can see them, but I saw almost all the key elements in this case at the same time the jury saw them. Two things stand out big time. Google’s Project Hug was an astonishingly corrupt effort at a massive scale — the same corrupt deal structure they tried to do with Epic when they wanted to pay us off to launch Fortnite on Google Play and not launch our own store.
As soon as we thwarted their effort, they went around to 27 different developers and offered each one a payoff to undermine any effort we had to get their games onto our store exclusively. Activision and Riot and Supercell had direct distribution plans that they were planning on; Google paid them not to pursue those plans.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
As an employee of Epic, I’ve not been able to see Google’s internal documents until the trial started. The lawyers can see them, but I saw almost all the key elements in this case at the same time the jury saw them. Two things stand out big time. Google’s Project Hug was an astonishingly corrupt effort at a massive scale — the same corrupt deal structure they tried to do with Epic when they wanted to pay us off to launch Fortnite on Google Play and not launch our own store.
As soon as we thwarted their effort, they went around to 27 different developers and offered each one a payoff to undermine any effort we had to get their games onto our store exclusively. Activision and Riot and Supercell had direct distribution plans that they were planning on; Google paid them not to pursue those plans. Just direct blatant violations of anti-competition law, it’s crazy a company of Google’s scale would do that.
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12687
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
As an employee of Epic, I’ve not been able to see Google’s internal documents until the trial started. The lawyers can see them, but I saw almost all the key elements in this case at the same time the jury saw them. Two things stand out big time. Google’s Project Hug was an astonishingly corrupt effort at a massive scale — the same corrupt deal structure they tried to do with Epic when they wanted to pay us off to launch Fortnite on Google Play and not launch our own store.
As soon as we thwarted their effort, they went around to 27 different developers and offered each one a payoff to undermine any effort we had to get their games onto our store exclusively. Activision and Riot and Supercell had direct distribution plans that they were planning on; Google paid them not to pursue those plans. Just direct blatant violations of anti-competition law, it’s crazy a company of Google’s scale would do that.
“If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.”
The other astonishing one was the Spotify deal.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
The lawyers can see them, but I saw almost all the key elements in this case at the same time the jury saw them. Two things stand out big time. Google’s Project Hug was an astonishingly corrupt effort at a massive scale — the same corrupt deal structure they tried to do with Epic when they wanted to pay us off to launch Fortnite on Google Play and not launch our own store.
As soon as we thwarted their effort, they went around to 27 different developers and offered each one a payoff to undermine any effort we had to get their games onto our store exclusively. Activision and Riot and Supercell had direct distribution plans that they were planning on; Google paid them not to pursue those plans. Just direct blatant violations of anti-competition law, it’s crazy a company of Google’s scale would do that.
“If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.”
The other astonishing one was the Spotify deal. Spotify is the one company that had comparable negotiating power to Fortnite.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Two things stand out big time. Google’s Project Hug was an astonishingly corrupt effort at a massive scale — the same corrupt deal structure they tried to do with Epic when they wanted to pay us off to launch Fortnite on Google Play and not launch our own store.
As soon as we thwarted their effort, they went around to 27 different developers and offered each one a payoff to undermine any effort we had to get their games onto our store exclusively. Activision and Riot and Supercell had direct distribution plans that they were planning on; Google paid them not to pursue those plans. Just direct blatant violations of anti-competition law, it’s crazy a company of Google’s scale would do that.
“If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.”
The other astonishing one was the Spotify deal. Spotify is the one company that had comparable negotiating power to Fortnite. Instead of using their power to fight for the good of all developers, they did a special deal with Google. Google gave them a 0 percent fee.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
As soon as we thwarted their effort, they went around to 27 different developers and offered each one a payoff to undermine any effort we had to get their games onto our store exclusively. Activision and Riot and Supercell had direct distribution plans that they were planning on; Google paid them not to pursue those plans. Just direct blatant violations of anti-competition law, it’s crazy a company of Google’s scale would do that.
“If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.”
The other astonishing one was the Spotify deal. Spotify is the one company that had comparable negotiating power to Fortnite. Instead of using their power to fight for the good of all developers, they did a special deal with Google. Google gave them a 0 percent fee. Google let Spotify process their own payments, and Spotify kept 100 percent. They do it for Spotify and for nobody else. If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Activision and Riot and Supercell had direct distribution plans that they were planning on; Google paid them not to pursue those plans. Just direct blatant violations of anti-competition law, it’s crazy a company of Google’s scale would do that.
“If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.”
The other astonishing one was the Spotify deal. Spotify is the one company that had comparable negotiating power to Fortnite. Instead of using their power to fight for the good of all developers, they did a special deal with Google. Google gave them a 0 percent fee. Google let Spotify process their own payments, and Spotify kept 100 percent. They do it for Spotify and for nobody else. If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.
When Spotify uses Google’s own payment service, instead of paying the 30 percent that Google forces other developers to pay, they pay 4 percent. That’s what the rate should be!
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Just direct blatant violations of anti-competition law, it’s crazy a company of Google’s scale would do that.
“If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.”
The other astonishing one was the Spotify deal. Spotify is the one company that had comparable negotiating power to Fortnite. Instead of using their power to fight for the good of all developers, they did a special deal with Google. Google gave them a 0 percent fee. Google let Spotify process their own payments, and Spotify kept 100 percent. They do it for Spotify and for nobody else. If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.
When Spotify uses Google’s own payment service, instead of paying the 30 percent that Google forces other developers to pay, they pay 4 percent. That’s what the rate should be! Four percent is a perfectly reasonable rate for an unbundled payment system.
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12693
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Just direct blatant violations of anti-competition law, it’s crazy a company of Google’s scale would do that.
“If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.”
The other astonishing one was the Spotify deal. Spotify is the one company that had comparable negotiating power to Fortnite. Instead of using their power to fight for the good of all developers, they did a special deal with Google. Google gave them a 0 percent fee. Google let Spotify process their own payments, and Spotify kept 100 percent. They do it for Spotify and for nobody else. If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.
When Spotify uses Google’s own payment service, instead of paying the 30 percent that Google forces other developers to pay, they pay 4 percent. That’s what the rate should be! Four percent is a perfectly reasonable rate for an unbundled payment system.
If instead of offering you a $147 million deal, Google said, “You can pay 0 percent to use your own payments system or 4 percent for Google Play billing,” would you be here today?
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Spotify is the one company that had comparable negotiating power to Fortnite. Instead of using their power to fight for the good of all developers, they did a special deal with Google. Google gave them a 0 percent fee. Google let Spotify process their own payments, and Spotify kept 100 percent. They do it for Spotify and for nobody else. If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.
When Spotify uses Google’s own payment service, instead of paying the 30 percent that Google forces other developers to pay, they pay 4 percent. That’s what the rate should be! Four percent is a perfectly reasonable rate for an unbundled payment system.
If instead of offering you a $147 million deal, Google said, “You can pay 0 percent to use your own payments system or 4 percent for Google Play billing,” would you be here today? Would you have fought this lawsuit to begin with if they’d simply offered something more fair to you?
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Instead of using their power to fight for the good of all developers, they did a special deal with Google. Google gave them a 0 percent fee. Google let Spotify process their own payments, and Spotify kept 100 percent. They do it for Spotify and for nobody else. If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.
When Spotify uses Google’s own payment service, instead of paying the 30 percent that Google forces other developers to pay, they pay 4 percent. That’s what the rate should be! Four percent is a perfectly reasonable rate for an unbundled payment system.
If instead of offering you a $147 million deal, Google said, “You can pay 0 percent to use your own payments system or 4 percent for Google Play billing,” would you be here today? Would you have fought this lawsuit to begin with if they’d simply offered something more fair to you?
No, we’ve always turned down special deals just for Epic.
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12696
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Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Google gave them a 0 percent fee. Google let Spotify process their own payments, and Spotify kept 100 percent. They do it for Spotify and for nobody else. If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.
When Spotify uses Google’s own payment service, instead of paying the 30 percent that Google forces other developers to pay, they pay 4 percent. That’s what the rate should be! Four percent is a perfectly reasonable rate for an unbundled payment system.
If instead of offering you a $147 million deal, Google said, “You can pay 0 percent to use your own payments system or 4 percent for Google Play billing,” would you be here today? Would you have fought this lawsuit to begin with if they’d simply offered something more fair to you?
No, we’ve always turned down special deals just for Epic. We’ve always fought on the principal that all developers should be, you know, given the same opportunities.
|
12697
|
Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
Google let Spotify process their own payments, and Spotify kept 100 percent. They do it for Spotify and for nobody else. If you’re a smaller developer than Spotify, you get screwed.
When Spotify uses Google’s own payment service, instead of paying the 30 percent that Google forces other developers to pay, they pay 4 percent. That’s what the rate should be! Four percent is a perfectly reasonable rate for an unbundled payment system.
If instead of offering you a $147 million deal, Google said, “You can pay 0 percent to use your own payments system or 4 percent for Google Play billing,” would you be here today? Would you have fought this lawsuit to begin with if they’d simply offered something more fair to you?
No, we’ve always turned down special deals just for Epic. We’ve always fought on the principal that all developers should be, you know, given the same opportunities. One of the documents in evidence was a 2019 email I sent — right before Fortnite launched the Marvel season with all this amazing new content and the Star Wars event featuring J.J.
|
12698
|
Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
When Spotify uses Google’s own payment service, instead of paying the 30 percent that Google forces other developers to pay, they pay 4 percent. That’s what the rate should be! Four percent is a perfectly reasonable rate for an unbundled payment system.
If instead of offering you a $147 million deal, Google said, “You can pay 0 percent to use your own payments system or 4 percent for Google Play billing,” would you be here today? Would you have fought this lawsuit to begin with if they’d simply offered something more fair to you?
No, we’ve always turned down special deals just for Epic. We’ve always fought on the principal that all developers should be, you know, given the same opportunities. One of the documents in evidence was a 2019 email I sent — right before Fortnite launched the Marvel season with all this amazing new content and the Star Wars event featuring J.J. Abrams.
|
12699
|
Tim Sweeney on Epic’s victory royale over Google
When Spotify uses Google’s own payment service, instead of paying the 30 percent that Google forces other developers to pay, they pay 4 percent. That’s what the rate should be! Four percent is a perfectly reasonable rate for an unbundled payment system.
If instead of offering you a $147 million deal, Google said, “You can pay 0 percent to use your own payments system or 4 percent for Google Play billing,” would you be here today? Would you have fought this lawsuit to begin with if they’d simply offered something more fair to you?
No, we’ve always turned down special deals just for Epic. We’ve always fought on the principal that all developers should be, you know, given the same opportunities. One of the documents in evidence was a 2019 email I sent — right before Fortnite launched the Marvel season with all this amazing new content and the Star Wars event featuring J.J. Abrams. Right before that, I sent an email to all the Google senior executives saying that we wanted to bring Fortnite to the Google Play Store in time for that event, and we wanted them to allow us and all other developers to process certain payments and keep them all.
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