You may soon be able to swap in a custom Steam Deck startup movie even easier than before, with Valve seemingly planning to list alternative boot screens on its own points shop. Better still, it appears the company may be implementing controls in the device's options that should make the process of switching between animations a doddle.
A Twitter post from Pavel Djundik, who runs the SteamDB database, shows that your Steam points could go towards purchasing a custom Steam Deck startup movie. As shown in the accompanying screenshot, a previous entry in the JavaScript file implies you’ll also be able to change the opening animation in the settings.
Valve only started officially supporting custom Steam Deck boot screens recently, adding a place for animations to be stored on the portable PC. However, this move shows the company may be interested in actively supporting the creators of these animations, in addition to giving users more things to purchase with their Steam points. For those who might not be too happy about having to buy them at all, it doesn’t seem like the current way of doing things is going away anytime soon.
Customising Steam Deck boot screens is pretty popular right now, more so thanks to the recent update. Even before this, there were plenty available, such as the one that celebrates the opening sequence to Futurama, or the Monkey Island startup that’s awash with gaming nostalgia. And let’s not forget the X-rated animation that you probably wouldn’t want to show to your grandparents.
We’ll just have to wait and see whether Valve goes ahead with this leaked feature. For those who use the best Steam Deck dock, or are happy to buy any number of accessories for the device, purchasing a custom boot screen could easily be seen as a nice way to support the community.