On September 23rd, Valve released a statement in an email to the Verge stating they have no plans to release an updated or new steam deck in the next several years. Direct quote and link below:

In an email to The Verge, Valve employee Pierre-Loup Griffais said that the next Steam Deck won’t be available for at least a “couple of years,” unless something changes drastically about the portable PC hardware landscape. To be more specific, Griffais said Valve doesn’t want to upgrade the Steam Deck’s specs unless they can deliver an uptick in performance without compromising the device’s battery life.

https://mashable.com/article/valve-steam-deck-2-2025

This article specifically is what helped me decided now was the time to purchase my first Steam Deck. The announcement of this Oled version mere weeks later now feels like I was receiving false advertising via the statement from Griffais. I have reached out to steam support regarding this issue and have been met with radio silence.

Call me a spoiled brat or whatever, but I intentionally was waiting on purchasing a steam deck bc I speculated enough time had gone by that a refresh was going to be happening soon. The public statement from their employee to the Verge felt like a blatant attempt to grab as many old deck sales before the new Oled deck was announced. It does not seem coincidental to me that the announcement of the Oled happened 45 days after the Verge statement, since that is longer than the return window for decks. If this is a wording issue, then Valve should ensure the wording on their press statements / releases is not confusing to the consumer. I really hope Valve responds to my support ticket in a fair way otherwise I don’t think I will stay loyal to this brand very long.