Valve’s brilliant Steam Deck handheld certainly feels less brilliant after its massive $300 price hike, but the Linux-powered portable has still sold out just hours after its recent restock.
As Valve struggles against skyrocketing RAM prices, which have caused a massive delay for its upcoming Steam Machine, the price of its Steam Deck has suffered. The top-end model, the 1TB OLED, saw its price jump from $649 to $949. The standard model, the 515GB OLED, now costs $789.
While even the base model is now $289 more expensive than a Nintendo Switch 2, the popularity of the handheld is still rampant. In less than 24 hours, both versions of the handheld have sold out in the United States (via IGN).
At the time of writing, its unknown how many units of the Steam Deck were manufactured for this new stock increase. Right now, multiple regions are still able to buy the handheld, including the UK, but there may not be that many units available worldwide. Additionally, it’s unknown how fast Valve’s stock for the handheld will refresh due to the pressures of manufacturing right now.
As RAM prices continue to skyrocket with shortages expected to continue into 2027, prices for Valve’s handheld may not fall back down for a long time. Valve isn’t the only company feeling the pressure, either, with many handheld companies raising prices on items such as the ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and more.
As Valve struggles to continue manufacturing on Steam Deck, Steam Machine and its upcoming Steam Frame, other companies have claimed that PC gaming handhelds are “no longer unsustainable” due to the ongoing RAMaggedon.
In response to the ongoing price hikes for RAM, Ayaneo recently suspended pre-orders for its anticipated Ayaneo Next handheld. We do not want to constantly adjust the selling price due to fluctuations in component costs,” the company said. “We believe that continuing to sell NEXT 2 under the current circumstances could potentially harm the interests of consumers and ultimately affect the long-term development of the brand.”
Hopefully, this will be the last price hike for Valve’s Steam Deck, although it doesn’t put much confidence in the price for the upcoming Steam Machine. Last year, Valve confirmed that the desktop will be priced “like a PC”, and that was prior to RAMaggedon. Let’s face it: it seems unlikely the new machine will launch for less than $1,000.
Nevertheless, it seems that Valve will have customers for the upcoming Steam Machine, even if it will face similar limitations to the Steam Deck.Considering the fact that the Steam Deck is still able to sell out despite its massive price hike, Valve’s new device will definitely sell some units.
