The Steam Deck handheld computers could have a lot more colors than just black and white. We had the opportunity to speak with Tucker Spofford, Valve’s product designer, and Greg Coomer about the importance of choosing the right colour for the Steam Deck machine.
Spofford says that there was much debate.
Coomer says, “And also genuinely enjoyable exploration around that stuff.” “And even discussions such as “well, can lots colours?” All those discussions were had. These discussions are ongoing. It is not clear if this means that we will see multicoloured Steam Decks with pride-themed themes down the road. It’s hard to believe that the discussion about colour options hasn’t died down.
The Deck will be available in black at launch, mainly because it is easier to produce a single piece of hardware than a variety of colors.
Coomer says that it’s fundamentally a logistical thing. It’s just more difficult to have a lot of SKUs on the market. There’s no better reason to do this than right now.
However, that doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to get our many-colored Decks in future. Especially if Valve has the success it believes it has. He says, “We might do more with that in future.” “If this goes the way we want it to, there are tons of opportunities to do that later.”
I can imagine many Steam Decks, each with their own unique themes, based on the initial phrase of “fun exploration”. Although I can easily imagine a lot more, we will have to wait to see if or when another reveal is made. However, any changes to the black colourway will not be made until after the initial launch.
We could see subtle pastels or more vibrant covers. However, we are predicting more than just black and White for future Decks. We hope they don’t come up with black-and-white designs with silly names. It’s not like ‘Stormtrooper White’ or anything. It’s just white with black accents.
I’ll be looking out for a Valve-orange Steam Deck, at least, because then I can call it my Orange Box.
