Portable consoles have to be relatively hardy to survive the plane trips, adventures, and life outside of an office or a home. However, they’re not usually so tough as to come out completely unscathed after a huge fire.
Just like your mobile phone, portable consoles like the Switch or Steam Deck usually go through their fair share of drops, unfortunate staples, accidental squashes after being trodden on, and sometimes even a plunge into water (we’ve all been there when a game’s too good to put down). Naturally, this is where a good case comes in, though it can’t protect you from everything.
Well, that is unless you’re one extremely lucky player, whose case and Steam Deck managed to not only survive a huge fire in their studio, but also came out completely unscathed.
Steam Deck miraculously untouched after huge fire
Sharing their story on the Steam subreddit, user Daniele posted an open letter to Valve, explaining that they were staying at their girlfriend’s place when their “entire studio was on fire.”
Naturally, they rushed home and revealed: “When I arrived, the place that once held everything I had worked so hard to build over the years was reduced to ashes, or rather, to melted plastic, barely recognizable anymore. Everything was gone: my PC, my monitors, my TV.”
“At this point, you’re probably wondering why I’m writing to you. Well, here’s the reason: Next to the completely melted Blu-ray player, under the shattered TV, in front of what used to be a portable air conditioner, there it was: the Steam Deck, inside its case.”
“I unzipped it, and to my absolute disbelief… the console was intact. Despite the water used by firefighters and the fire that destroyed everything else, the Steam Deck still works!”
They proceeded to attach an image of the fire’s aftermath and their fully functioning Steam Deck, which looked untouched.
Unfortunately, they did lose their Steam Controller to the fire, which they “treasured as a collector’s item,” though the fanbase in the comments has rallied behind them to try and source a free controller to send them.
They continued: “As a long-time fan and loyal user, I just wanted to share this story with you and take the opportunity to thank you for the outstanding quality of your products, from the store to the games and hardware. Anything with the Valve logo on it is, to me, a mark of quality and now, literally fireproof!”
This is a testament to the console and the case, which has seemingly protected the Steam Deck from both water and fire in the space of a few hours. Interestingly, this isn’t the only case where the console has survived a fire, with players reporting similar miraculous recoveries.
Whether this is a testament to their case or Steam Deck is up for debate, but either way, this is one pretty hardy setup to have. However, we wouldn’t recommend testing the strength of these in the same way.
