Valve quickly deletes Steam Deck video featuring a Switch emulator

Valve posted, and then quickly deleted a promotional video for the Steam Deck which featured a prominent Nintendo Switch emulator on Saturday.

Valve’s newest promotional video for Steam Deck featured the logo for the emulator. However, the trailer was quickly taken down and replaced with a new one.

The Steam Deck has been praised for its open platform, which allows emulators, such as the one featured in the video, to be easily integrated into the handheld PC.

https://twitter.com/Nibellion/status/1578384561037365251

While the emulators themselves are legal, promoting them in such a direct way, especially one that seeks to emulate Nintendo‘s current platform was clearly done in error.

When the Steam Deck first launched, Nintendo issued several DMCA takedowns on YouTube videos that showed players using this exact emulator to run The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Steam Deck.

Valve has also announced this week that the Steam Deck no longer has a waiting list.

Users can now buy one directly from the official Steam Deck website without having to place a reservation and wait until their place in the queue is reached.

“Starting today, Steam Deck is available without a reservation,” the company tweeted. “Order one now, and we’ll ship it to you now.”

It added that while Steam Decks are in stock now, it could temporarily sell out again in the future.

“We’re doing our best to keep Steam Decks in stock, but there’s always a chance demand will be outside our expectations,” it explained. “If that happens, some models in some regions might temporarily revert back to reservations, while we catch up.”

Further reading

Valve shows off Steam Deck protoypes without a D-Pad

Circular track pads and smaller analogue sticks also featured on early versions

In an interview with Weekly Famitsu magazine last month, Valve designer Greg Coomer said it was highly likely that there will be a next generation of Steam Deck hardware in the future.

“Unless something major changes, there will be a next generation of Steam Deck products in the future,” Coomer said.

“The theme, size and shape will change, and it might even become a streaming machine. Development of the Steam Deck will continue.”