You can imagine my disappointment when, after finally receiving my Steam Deck from Valve, I opened up its packaging to discover that the new handheld PC hardware wouldn’t turn on. Try as I might, its power button appears to be permanently stuck, with my device having seemingly been delivered with a debilitating defect. After some investigation, it seems that this issue — while not common — has still affected other users, with there being multiple consumer reports of buyers finding that their Steam Deck won’t turn on.
Why won’t my Steam Deck turn on?
Issues with the Steam Deck were apparent immediately after unboxing it. There was no ‘click’ after pressing its power button, with its screen remaining black until I plugged in its charger. After this, I could begin its setup as usual, so I assumed the initial issue was due to the hardware needing to be charged before being used. However, after turning off the handheld computer following a few games of Rocket League, I quickly realized that I wasn’t able to turn the hardware back on.
Other users are reporting the same issue. Over the past month or so, Steam Deck users on Reddit have noted their power button was either stuck from the moment they unboxed the console, or that it has become increasingly inconsistent over time. “I was part of second batch and have been using the deck on and off over the week however it has been really hard to turn on as the power button doesn’t seem to move and that makes it really difficult to turn on,” one Redditor wrote. “fter roughly a week of usage, my deck’s power button is stuck and when I press it down, I get no “click” feedback and my deck can’t turn on,” another added.
While in no way as widespread as hardware issues such as the Nintendo Switch’s prominent ‘Joy-Con drift’ debacle, being unable to play my Steam Deck after waiting for months for it to arrive due to its power button not working is still frustrating. Like other users who have experienced this problem, I’ve submitted a ticket with Valve, so hopefully I’ll be able to get to enjoying my Steam library on the go sooner rather than later.
In other news, the Xbox Series X has outsold the PS5 for the first time ever in Japan. Doctor Strange 2 also reportedly ripped off a fight sequence from an indie game.
