We surveyed over 3,800 Steam Deck owners to see what they think about Valve's portable PC. Here's what they think!

Over the last few weeks, Chris and I have been digging into 2024's Steam Deck Survey results. The number of people who participated in the survey compared to last year has increased by 20% (with over 3,800 participants this year).

Here is the 2023 edition if you missed it:

There have been some exciting learnings in this year's results. Did you know that the average satisfaction score is of 8.92/10, that owning multiple Steam Decks isn't that uncommon, and that the price is still the top barrier for non-owners?

The survey was open from November 4 until November 24;
The questionnaire consisted of some ~50 questions about the Steam Deck;
3,807 people participated (21% more than last year);
Overall average satisfaction with the Steam Deck is 8.92 out of 10;
48% of participants reside in North America (6% fewer people than last year), 42% in Europe, with the remaining people scattered all over the world;
The bulk of people responding are between the ages of 18 and 39 (76%);
Most respondents came via the r/steamdeck Steam Deck subreddit.

Do you own a Steam Deck? If not, why not?

86% of the 3807 people surveyed this year own one Steam Deck, while 11% (409 individuals) own multiple Decks. Of course, some people completing the survey don't actually own Valve's handheld – 3% to be precise (113 respondents).

The number one reason that group gave for not owning a Steam Deck was price – which also happened to be the number one reason in last year's results. Here's the full breakdown:

A total of 786 respondents (approximately 21%) indicated that they upgraded from an LCD model to an OLED model.

What storage option did you choose? And did you upgrade your storage in any way?

This year, the most popular model is the 512GB OLED Steam Deck, chosen by 24% of participants, followed by the 512GB LCD variant at 23%. The 64GB LCD was selected by 17%, while 1TB OLEDs made up 16%. The 256GB LCD option accounted for 15% of responses. A smaller share (6%) opted for the 1TB Limited Edition OLED.

However, not everyone stuck with their original storage configuration. 26% of participants upgraded their SSD, with the most common upgrade being to a 1TB SSD.

Additionally, while 72% didn't upgrade their SSD, 77% of participants added a microSD card to expand storage. The most popular choice was 512GB microSDs, accounting for 35% of responses, followed by the pricier 1TB microSDs at 24%, and 256GB cards at 9%. Notably, 23% did not add microSD storage.

Have you modified your Steam Deck?

One of the major selling points of the Steam Deck is how easy it is to open up. Naturally, several brands, from JSAUX to dbrand, jumped at the chance to offer folks customization options.

Results show 301 people (8%) modified their Steam Deck in some way. Most changes were cosmetic, with screen protectors and skins leading the list, followed by backplates. A smaller but notable group mentioned reapplying thermal paste, often using products like Kryonaut. This number, however, doesn't include the participants who upgraded their SSD, as discussed earlier.

Regarding protection, 35% of respondents use a case for their Steam Deck, slightly up from previous findings. On the accessories front, over half of the participants (58%) own a dedicated dock for their device, making it a popular choice among users.

Let's talk about usage

Like the previous years, we asked people how they use their Steam Deck.

First, we asked about Windows usage. This year, no respondents indicated using Windows exclusively. However, 219 respondents either explicitly mentioned dual-booting or listed multiple operating systems, showing an interest in flexibility. This suggests that while SteamOS remains dominant, a good portion of users are exploring alternatives to maximize functionality.

How many hours do you play on average per week?

Next, we wanted to know how much time people typically spend playing their Steam Deck each week. People generally game around 1 to 7 hours weekly on their Steam Deck, with approximately 58% of users reporting so.

However, when comparing playtime across 2022, 2023, and 2024, we observed some shifts. In 2024, the "4 to 7 hours" category saw a slight increase, now at 35%, while playtime in the "7 to 14 hours" category dropped slightly to 27%. The "More than 14 hours" group grew to 15%, showing a rise in heavy usage. Meanwhile, shorter playtime categories like "1 to 4 hours" and "Less than 1 hour" remained relatively stable. Here's how it looks across the years:

How do you use your Steam Deck?

Now, you might wonder what people do with their Steam Deck.

The primary use ("What do you use your Steam Deck for the most?") for the Steam Deck is to play indie games (51%), followed by Triple-A games (34%). Retro and emulation usage comes in at 11%, while streaming games or using the device for productivity lags behind at 3% and 1%, respectively.

For the first time, Vampire Survivors is NOT the most popular Steam Deck game anymore. Here is the Top 10 for this year (including the changes in position compared to last year's survey):

Elden Ring (🔺, 2)
Vampire Survivors (🔻, 1)
Hades (🔺, 4)
Balatro (new)
Cyberpunk 2077 (🔺, 7)
Stardew Valley (=)
Fallout 4 (new)
Baldur's Gate 3 (🔻, 3)
Diablo 4 (new)
Brotato (new)

As for the most popular game releases of 2024, they are in order: Balatro, Hades 2, Helldivers 2 and Persona 3 Reload.

There is also a significant chunk of people emulating games, with over half telling us they've done some emulation on their Steam Deck. But what platforms are the most emulated? This year, the PlayStation 2 remains the most emulated platform with 1,200 respondents indicating they've played PS2 titles on the Deck. This is followed by the Game Boy family (1,000), the GameCube (950) and — despite its emulation scene being something of a rocky road this year — Nintendo Switch titles (700). Other notable platforms include PlayStation 1 (600), Nintendo 64 (550), PlayStation 3 (500), SNES (450), Wii (400), and Dreamcast (350).

How do you play games?

Being a portable device, it makes sense that 84% of people have used their Steam Deck outside of their homes. But most people still predominantly play their Deck within their own four walls, with most playing primarily on their couch, followed by their bed.

Compared to last year, the number of people using their Steam Deck primarily during their commute increased slightly to 6%, though it remains a niche use case. And because you probably wanted to know: 25 people use their Steam Deck predominantly on the toilet — poop deck gaming.

One of the main selling points of the Steam Deck is how many games can be installed locally. But what about the games that may either not run or be too performance-hungry?

Thankfully, for these situations, we can use streaming options, either in-house streaming from one of your local devices to another or cloud-based streaming options. Here is what people had to say:

1123 people use in-house streaming options (e.g., Moonlight, Steam Remote, PlayStation Remote Play).
684 people use offsite streaming options (e.g., Nvidia GeForce Now, Xbox Game Pass Cloud).

Have you installed any other method of acquiring games on your Steam Deck?

Thanks to the open nature of the Steam Deck (say, compared to a Nintendo Switch), the Steam Store is not the only option for installing games on the Deck. So we asked people what other methods they use.

Here's the breakdown, with the Heroic Launcher leading the way:

Around 30% don't bother with any other store. (Down by 7% compared to last year.)

Most people (around 1600) reported having purchased between 1 and 10 games primarily to play on their Steam Deck. Around 1100 people bought 10 to 50 games, and 150 respondents said they mainly purchased over 100 games for their Steam Deck.

When it comes to total Steam Library ownership, the results vary widely:

The green checkmark dilemma

Valve's Verification Process can seem broken from the outside. It is an excellent idea on paper: if a game is verified or playable, you can be assured that it runs great on Deck. But we've seen that this might not always be the case in practice.

So it only makes sense that most people (67%, down by 3%) don't actually consider a game's Verified Status in their buying decision – of all participants (from a largely enthusiast crowd), the majority instead check ProtonDB (82%) or the Steam Community Pages to see if a game runs.

From the analysis:

37.19% of respondents mentioned checking websites like Overkill or Steam Deck HQ.
58.60% of respondents mentioned using Reddit as a source for checking how games run on their Steam Deck.
81.82% of respondents mentioned checking ProtonDB to see if a game runs or works on the Steam Deck

This also explains why 78% (up from 70%) have previously changed the compatibility layer and why a whopping 2400 people have installed GE-Proton.

There are, however, still 33% (up by 3%) of surveyed people that will only buy playable or verified games for their Steam Deck.

Let's talk about input methods

So far, the Steam Deck is one of the only handheld PCs with built-in trackpads. But since most competitors don't bother adding them, does that mean Valve could do without them in their next Steam Deck revision?

Nope, because 64.62% use the trackpads to play video games, with the remainder (35.38%) using them to navigate the Steam Deck's Desktop mode.

As for community controller layouts, 3,195 surveyed people told us they had used them before, with 381 respondents saying they had not, and 118 were unaware these layouts existed in the first place.

Steam Deck versus other gaming platforms

We naturally asked people if the Steam Deck was responsible for decreasing their usage of other platforms, and 82.08% of people reported at least a slight decrease:

37.52% reported a significant decrease.
25.09% reported a slight decrease.
19.46% completely stopped using other platforms.
17.92% reported no change.

As for what platforms they own, here is what we learned.

What other platforms do you own (multiple answers were possible):

PC / Mac: 2,930 respondents
Nintendo Switch: 2,150 respondents
PlayStation 4: 1,100 respondents
PlayStation 5: 1,009 respondents
Xbox One: 470 respondents
Xbox Series S/X: 589 respondents
Other x86 handhelds (AYANEO, ROG Ally, GPD, etc): 215 respondents
Retro handhelds (PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS, Game Boy Color, etc): 1,650 respondents
Retro consoles (SNES, N64, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, etc): 1,510 respondents

Further Breakdown, In addition to the Steam Deck:

23 respondents also own all the platforms listed.
900 respondents own only a Nintendo Switch.
14 respondents own another x86 handheld (AYANEO, ROG Ally, GPD, etc.).
1,050 respondents only own a PC / Mac.
600 respondents only own an Xbox Series S/X.
715 respondents only own a PlayStation 5.

Looking ahead

With that, Valve may be revising the Steam Deck, we asked multiple questions to check what Valve could enhance in a potential Steam Deck 2.

Going by the fact that the average satisfaction score for the Steam Deck is a whopping 8.92 out of 10, the answer might be "not much"? Yet, when we asked people what they wanted to see in a Steam Deck 2, the two most requested answers were a bigger battery (1,462 replies) and a more powerful chipset (1,015 replies).

On the software side, respondents highlighted key areas for improvement. The most requested changes include better performance optimisation, improved game compatibility, support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and enhanced power management. Additionally, some users expressed interest in more unique features, such as dual-booting support with more OS options, a streamlined library management system, and the ability to customise performance profiles for individual games. A few even requested a "game mode" UI overhaul and integration with third-party launchers for better convenience. And a bunch of people really want Game Pass support.

However, we've also asked if people sometimes felt limited by the Steam Deck's performance. And the answer is yes, with 62% telling us so (down by 3%). This makes sense, seeing that some of the beefier Triple-A games, such as Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield, don't run that nicely on the Steam Deck. Users frequently mentioned these titles as examples of games requiring significant compromises, either in frame rate or graphical fidelity, to achieve playable portable performance.

And finally, with the rumours swirling about new products from Valve, we naturally asked: What other hardware do you want to see?

On the hardware front, respondents had a variety of ideas for future Valve products. The most popular request was for a new controller, such as a Steam Controller 2, with 147 mentions. There was also significant interest in Valve producing more advanced VR headsets and modular devices. Steam Deck owners highlighted the need for hardware improvements to their existing device, such as better cooling solutions or expanded docking capabilities. More unique ideas included requests for a revamped Steam Link device or a hybrid console (think the Wii U or the Switch) that leverages the Steam Deck as its core component.

That's a wrap. A massive thank you to everyone for taking the time to look at this year's results and to everyone who filled out this year's State of Steam Deck Survey.

Of course, we'll be back next year with an even better survey.