Valve Increases Steam Deck Prices Amid Rising Costs
Valve has announced a price increase exceeding 40%—nearly £200—for its two Steam Deck models, attributing the hike to "rising memory and storage costs."
The 512GB version of its OLED handheld gaming PC, the newer model featuring an upgraded display, will now be priced at $789 (£649, €779), marking a 43% increase or £170 more than before. Meanwhile, the larger 1TB model will cost $949 (£779, €919), reflecting a 46% rise or £210 additional.
In a blog post, Valve clarified that the Steam Deck hardware itself remains unchanged, and the price adjustments mirror "the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges across the industry as a whole."
"There goes my hopes of ever getting an OLED," posted one disappointed gamer.
The Steam Deck OLED was officially launched in November 2023 as a significant hardware update to the original LCD model.
Valve no longer offers its more affordable LCD models directly, meaning customers can only purchase the OLED version through the company.
These newer OLED models had been out of stock for several months prior to Valve's announcement.
The price increase has sparked speculation about its implications for Valve's anticipated gaming PC, the Steam Machine, which currently lacks a release date or confirmed pricing.
Valve recently introduced its version of the Steam Controller, an official gamepad designed for playing its games, which has received mixed reactions due to its £85 price.
Chris Scullion, deputy editor of Video Games Chronicle, told the BBC that increases in component costs such as RAM could mean the Steam Machine "could end up being so expensive to manufacture that Valve might even reconsider releasing it at all," or the company might delay launch "until the situation is hopefully resolved."
Industry-Wide Price Increases
The hardware and subscription sectors have seen multiple price hikes recently, with companies frequently citing tariffs, ongoing inflation, and shortages of RAM—a type of memory chip used in computing devices—as key factors.
RAM prices have surged partly due to the rapid expansion of data centers supporting artificial intelligence, which also require these chips.
In March, Sony increased the PlayStation 5 price by £90 in the UK and $100 in the US, attributing the rise to "continued pressures in the global economic landscape."
That same month, Sony also raised the cost of its PlayStation Plus subscription service in certain regions, citing "market conditions."
Nintendo announced that the price of the Switch 2 will increase globally starting in September, rising from $449.99 to $499.99 in the US and from €469.99 to €499.99 in most European countries. A revised UK price, where the Switch 2 currently costs £395.99, will be confirmed later.
Xbox has bucked the trend by lowering the price of its Game Pass subscription service, though this comes with the removal of day-one access to new Call of Duty titles.
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