Last week the European Union agreed on the provisional adoption of a new regulation that "strengthens sustainability rules for batteries and waste batteries. The regulation will regulate the entire life cycle of batteries - from production to reuse and recycling - and ensure that they are safe, sustainable and competitive." More specific terms include: "by 2027 portable batteries incorporated into appliances should be removable and replaceable by the end-user, leaving sufficient time for operators to adapt the design of their products to this requirement. This is an important provision for consumers." Although gaming handhelds are not referred to in specifics within the European Council's (very general) press material, Overkill (a site specializing in Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch and adjacent platforms) sought to investigate this matter further.

The publication was able to get in direct contact with an unnamed source at the European Union, who confirmed that: "the batteries of gaming handhelds are covered by the batteries and waste batteries regulation." The article proposes that future battery requirements will likely not affect current generation products—a Steam Deck successor and Nintendo's hypothetical Switch 2 are perhaps the prime candidates for internal design revisions according to EU legislation set for 2027. Overkill anticipates that portable gaming device manufacturers are going to question some of the new rules—similar to how smartphone makers have appealed against certain decisions. A compromise could be agreed upon, with slightly refashioned handhelds not conforming 100% to the new standards.