Valve is giving away one Steam Deck every minute during The Game Awards 2022. To win one you just have to register for its competition and watch along.
And we’re not just talking about the base model. People who tune into the show on 4.30pm PT / 7:30pm ET on December 8 / 12:30am GMT on December 9 have a chance to win the top-end Steam Deck model, which normally costs $649 / £569 and comes with 512GB of SSD storage.
To be eligible to win one of the best handheld gaming devices ever released, there are a few steps you have to follow, but the potential prize is more than worth the minimal effort you’ll need to put in.
How do you sign up for the Steam Deck giveaway?
To sign up for the Steam Deck giveaway for The Game Awards 2022 you have to head to the official Steam page (opens in new tab) and register using your Steam account. But signing up is just the first step.
You’ll then need to tune in and watch The Game Awards 2022 live, via Valve’s broadcasts on Steam specifically – you can’t watch just any broadcast and call it a day. Valve’s giveaway streams will happen on its official Game Awards 2022 page (opens in new tab) and on SteamTV, with the pre-show set to begin at 4.30pm PT / 7:30pm ET on December 8 / 12:30am GMT on December 9. While watching either of these two streams you’ll want to make sure you’re also logged into the Steam account you’ve registered.
Last but not least, your account will have to meet a few extra requirements to be eligible to win:
- You must be from the US, Canada, UK, or EU
- Your account must have made a purchase on Steam in one of those regions between 4pm PT / 7pm ET / 12 midnight GMT on Nov 14, 2021, and 3.59pm PT / 6:59pm ET / 11:59pm GMT on November 14, 2022
- Your account must be in ‘good standing’ (i.e., no active bans, locks, that sort of thing)
- Your entry in the Giveaway must have been made in ‘good faith’
You can also choose to enter by post; more details on that are available at Valve’s official rules page (opens in new tab).
How many Steam Decks are up for grabs?
The number of Steam Decks that Valve is giving away depends on a couple of factors.
The first is how long The Game Awards 2022 lasts. We don’t yet know this year’s run-time but we do know that The Game Awards 2021 was three and a half hours long, while The Game Awards 2020 was around three hours long, though both of those included a thirty-minute pre-show.
The second factor is how long Valve’s Giveaway Stream will last – this is the stream it will be running on Steam, and is what you have to watch to have a chance of winning. If the Giveaway Stream is the entire length of The Game Awards then we could see Valve hand out over 200 free Steam Decks based on last year’s figures. But if Valve cuts out the pre-show, or only decides to stream for a specific hour or even less, then the number of Steam Decks to be won will be a lot lower.
Regardless of how many there are to win though, we’d recommend tuning in for as long as you can if you want the chance to score a free $649 / £569 handheld.
And if you win, or if you already have a Steam Deck, then you might want to check out our picks for the best Steam Deck games (opens in new tab) so you know what to play first.
