Valve's Steam Machine series of gaming computers using Linux-derived SteamOS was introduced in 2015, which worked their way into the conception of the Steam Deck. Valve quietly pulled back on it by April 2018, but stated they remained committed to providing some type of open-hardware platform. Steam Deck designer Scott Dalton said "there was always kind of this classic chicken and egg problem with the Steam Machine", as it required the adoption of Linux by both gamers and game developers to reach a critical interest in the machines to draw manufacturers in making them. The lack of Linux game availability during the lifetime of Steam Machines led Valve to invest development into Proton, a Linux compatibility layer to allow Windows–based games to be run on Linux without modification.[2] Some of the early prototypes of Valve's Steam Controller, also released in 2015, included a small LCD screen within the middle of the controller which could be programmed as a second screen alongside the game that the user was playing. One idea from this prototype was to include the Steam Link, a device capable of streaming game content from a computer running Steam to a different monitor, here routing that output to the small LCD on the controller. This was later considered by Valve a very early concept behind the Steam Deck.
As of December 2022, Valve is pursuing improvements on the current Steam Deck design, including an audio mixer, per-game "power profiles", and some other performance improvements, as well as evaluating a second generation Steam Deck. Valve is also considering bringing some of the Steam Deck technology into a new Steam Controller 2.