PC games giant Valve has said that its upcoming Steam Deck hardware is still set to launch in February of this year.

In a blog post on its website, the firm said the console is on track to be launched on time, despite the on-going COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and other issues related to supply and shipping.

Furthermore, Valve says that it has been sending out development kits to studios so that game creators can check how their titles function on the Steam Deck. This also means that studios can work towards receiving their green Steam Deck Verified tick, which indicates how well releases work on the console.

"Work and testing for the Steam Deck Verified program has been underway," Valve wrote. "You’ll soon be able to see Deck Verified status for a growing set of Steam games. We’re checking four major categories: input, seamlessness, display, and system support.

"It’s also important that we give developers the ability to test their games in order to get that nice green Verified check, so we’ve been sending developer kits out in quantity. We've been approving another wave of dev kits, and hundreds have been shipped out in the last month (and we're continuing to approve and send out even more). Thanks for your patience devs."

Valve revealed Steam Deck in July 2021 with the hardware initially set for a December release. The hardware was bumped back to February following global supply chain problems.