Valve has officially announced iFixit as one of several authorized sellers of Steam Deck replacement parts (and repairs) less than two weeks away from launch.
In a new update provided earlier today, Valve noted that in addition to Steam Deck, iFixit will also provide replacement parts for the Valve Index virtual reality headset. Further details have been promised to be made available soon.
The announcement sees Valve making good on its promise to sell replacement parts in order to allow owners to repair their Steam Decks themselves.
The developer has already released the official computer-aided design (CAD) files of Steam Deck ahead of launch. Valve wants modders, accessory manufacturers, and just about anyone with access to a 3D printer to be able to create custom external shells for the gaming handheld.
“We are looking forward to seeing what the community creates!” Valve has said while noting that the CAD files are being made available under a Creative Commons license, meaning that the license should be fit for commercial use.
Steam Deck was supposed to launch around the holiday season but shipping and manufacturing challenges owing to the COVID-19 pandemic forced Valve to delay by a couple of months. The first wave of units are now pegged to roll out at the end of the month.
Elsewhere, developer Epic Games is still bent on skipping Steam Deck for Fortnite due to cheating concerns. Valve and Epic Games have worked together to include support for both Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye, but Epic Games believes that opening up to a new platform will increase the threat levels for Fortnite and make it difficult to combat cheaters.
Other popular multiplayer games such as Apex Legends, Hunt: Showdown, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and more remain to be verified for Steam Deck. They will not be available at launch but may be rolled out down the road.
