r/Steam • u/IIIIIIIIIIIIIlIIIIll • 5h ago
News Steam Deck Sales Reportedly Plunge 80% After Price Hikes
https://www.thegamer.com/steam-deck-sales-drop-80-percent/562
u/MarcDarcy 5h ago
I'm truly shocked!
/S
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u/bigfuzzydog 5h ago
Is anyone surprised by this? I love my steam deck but I wouldnt recommend the purchase to someone at the current prices. If I didnt have one already I definitely wouldnt buy one now
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u/ThatLooksRight 5h ago
Same here. 512GB OLED and I wouldn’t buy it at these prices.
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u/Aselleus Gaming adhd 54m ago
Holy crap, I just checked... $949 for the 1tb.
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u/Chromiell 3h ago
I bought mine (LCD model with 512GB SSD) 2 years ago on eBay for 320€ and I spent days thinking if I should or shouldn't get it because it was starting to get too old and the price was kind of high for my taste. I can't imagine anyone buying the OLED model (which has basically the exact same hardware specs of my LCD model, plus a better screen) for almost 800€.
It's a great console for me because I enjoy playing recompiled versions of old games, emulators and old titles in general, but it struggles with any modern game to the point that you have to rely on LSFG-vk, Optiscaler or FSR in general just to get the game to work on low-medium settings.
There's no reason to spend 800€ on a Steam Deck, its hardware is way too outdated. It's a great console for the 300-500€ range but absolutely not worth it at the current price.
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u/Orpheeus 4h ago
People being surprised on Reddit of all places at the massive price hike on everything tech related are genuinely so stupid.
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u/FullmetalEzio 4h ago
here in my country it costs like 1550+ bucks, its just way too much, things do cost more here cause tariff and stuff, but i ended up getting a switch 2 for like 600 bucks and im loving it even tho i have to re buy games i own on steam lol, if they were similar in price (not double) i'd have gotten a steam deck, im glad i didnt tho cause switch is awesome and i'll eventually use what i saved to upgrade my pc instead
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u/cojack16 4h ago
I would buy one if mine broke. I honestly can’t think of a better alternative. I use it for almost all games nowadays and it’s vital for my gaming happiness
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u/Jyuratoadies 2h ago edited 2h ago
Yup. Have my Steamdeck and already thought it was a little expensive at its old price point. I wouldn't buy one now and if my current deck breaks in a way that is unrepairable, I will just lose the convenience and not replace it and go back to my old laptop that runs games better anyway. Steam decks primary strength is portability, not graphical fidelity and a laptop is a little more hassle to setup, but does the job.
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u/Chaseism 4h ago
Given the amount I play my Steam Deck, I absolutely would still recommend it. I think we have a tendency to think more about price rather than use. I paid a very normal price for a PS5 after release. I've sat down to play it all of 5 times. I play my Steam Deck every day.
Every consumer electronic is going up in price. I think we should reflect less on the price itself and more on how much we use the thing.
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u/AlextheGoose 3h ago
I think all the shortages caused by the AI boom are exposing the bigger problem. We've stopped asking whether we actually need something and started asking how we can justify the price. If the answer to every price hike is “I’ll use it enough” or "I'll get my money's worth," then consumerism is doing exactly what it's supposed to.
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u/Chaseism 2h ago
Not exactly because we can't afford to buy everything we want even if we would use it enough. At some point, prices will be so high that people just won't buy. We are seeing this with movies, phones, and even subscription services. We will certainly see that with consumer electronics. Steam Deck is a great example of that. But for what the Steam Deck has done for me and gaming, I'd pay $1,000 for it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be gaming right now.
What I was trying to say with my post was that if you want something really bad and it's expensive, think about how much you'll use it. If you'll use it a lot, it's better to buy the thing at a high price than something you'll barely use at what feels like a regular price.
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u/gchaudh2 5h ago
This would have gone down better if this hike was tied to refreshed hardware. All handhelds are terrible value right now and the SD is no exception.
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u/Nknights23 4h ago
Exactly my thoughts. It is the exact same hardware that has probably been sitting in warehouses for the last two years. I totally understand the issue in regards to ram prices, but what I don’t understand is why old hardware is getting a price hike when it’s already been built with hardware that was bought at a previous price. All these price hikes are just starting to feel like double and triple dipping.
Also, didn’t they themselves say that they can’t even get new ram so how does the price hike even equate to new RAM that they can’t receive?
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u/silentdragoon 4h ago
As a company, you don't make all of your units right away and then hold onto them - you have contracts to produce a certain number per month or quarter, and prices charged by your suppliers go up and down regularly. You can absorb a certain level of price hikes, but if a component costs 3x to 5x more, you can't just eat that indefinitely. And upgrading the rest of the unit - especially when it's semi custom silicon - is not the work of a moment. Valve clearly prefers a slow update cadence, so this is exactly what you should expect.
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u/Monstercockerel 4h ago
Speak for yourself, the switch is excellent value for me.
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u/ShiningPr1sm 2h ago
The Switch 2 is arguably the best-value handheld at this point. SD is one of the worst, old hardware with a now too-inflated price
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u/Low-Salary-2128 1h ago
The switch 2 with it's 3 games worth buying?
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u/Level-Promotion416 52m ago
Donkey Kong Bananza, Kirby Air Riders, Pokopia, Mario Kart World, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, best versions of Zelda BotW and TotK, and Splatoon Raiders tomorrow off the top of my head. Some people just hate fun.
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u/Corronchilejano 4h ago
Do you mean all gaming handhelds for PC games? Why do you say they're terrible value?
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u/eddie9958 4h ago
Rich people gotta rich 😂
Handhelds are awful value.
Might as well just play on your phone at these prices
But that's why I bought an rog Ally Z1E on eBay.
Best purchase ever for the value of an excellent condition used device
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u/MrthreeO8 5h ago
Speaking for myself. I was saving to get an OLED Steam Deck, but I could not seem to snag one when they briefly became available.
After the price hike...nah. That put it up and out of what I could comfortably throw into this hobby. Priorities and all that jazz.
I will eventually put that money towards a new GPU for my tower in the future.
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u/XiMaoJingPing 5h ago
Can't believe they hiked the prices without doing a refresh
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u/cwx149 4h ago
I mean it would just have had to be even more expensive
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u/XiMaoJingPing 4h ago
at least you buying it with the latest hardware, gives you an actual reason to pay those prices
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u/Chaseism 4h ago
I don't think their goal is to sell Steam Decks. Their goal is to get you to continue to buy games from the Steam store. That's why you can load SteamOS on other devices...the Steam Deck is just another avenue to get you to buy games on the Steam store.
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u/mguerrette 4h ago
Which is funny since they used the excuse of not making an ecosystem play like Xbox or PlayStation as a reason for not subsidizing their hardware.
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u/brenstar 2h ago
Except it's not like PlayStation or Xbox because those ecosystems are closed. You can run whatever you want on steam hardware.
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u/Chaseism 2h ago
I have the vaguest memory of Valve saying they were taking a hit on every Steam Deck sold, but they were willing to take the hit if the revenue from those gamer purchasing games made up for it. I thought they didn't subsidize the Steam Machine because it could be used as a regular computer and there was no guarantee that people would buy Steam games with it. But this is a vague memory so please let me know if I'm wrong.
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u/pokehl99 1h ago
i thought they just sold them at cost, hence why their prices dropped when parts got cheaper and raised when ram prices hit, make no sense for them to sell at a loss
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u/mguerrette 1h ago
You can use the steam deck as a regular computer as well
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u/Chaseism 1h ago
Totally, but companies or even individuals aren't going to purchase a Steam Deck as a PC computer, even if it functions as one. A Steam Machine at the intended price, however...they were safe guarding against that.
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u/mguerrette 1h ago
There are many others ways you could limit purchases by those who are not actual Steam users. The initial run has been a lottery to begin with that required a Steam account in active use. So the idea that they didn’t want to subsidize it because people would buy it not for intended purposes is a funny joke.
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u/ThatAstronautGuy 61 39m ago
It was that or stop selling entirely thanks to AI driving hardware prices sky high
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u/rowmean77 4h ago
This AI bubble is making people hug their family and their wallets more it’s fantastic!
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u/Gex2-EnterTheGecko 3h ago
I mean yeah it just isn't worth it anymore. I am surprised they even bothered to restock them.
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u/tstorm004 5h ago
Yeah - why would I pay so much more for something I could've gotten so much cheaper a few years ago?
At least offer some sort of minor hardware refresh/upgrade along with the hike to give people any incentive at all.
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u/BondagePants 5h ago
Didn’t they reportedly sell out following the price hike?
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u/zonerator 5h ago
Yeah they almost certainly priced that high because they could not source parts for ad many units as they wanted
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u/Few-Independence3787 4h ago
Why get it at this point when you can get Rog Ally Z1E still for cheaper and even put SteamOS on there if needed. Unless someone loves the trackpads but even then they have wireless pocket bluetooth keyboards for Ally.
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u/AgitatedStove01 2h ago
They sold out and haven’t had them back in stock for a bit now. This plunge is a bullshit headline to drive traffic.
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u/RedChudOverParadise3 2h ago
For the 1TB OLED you could save a little more and just buy a Xbox Ally X, which beats the dog piss out of the Steam Deck.
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u/Sonic1899 4h ago
The biggest thing Steam Deck had going for it was the lower cost compared to every other handheld. It was weaker, but it was easy to stomach by how affordable it was. Now, it has the worst possible value you can get. Outdated tech, even during time of release, struggles to handle sone recent releases, not just AAA, but some AA and indies that don't have pixelated graphics). And sure it's cheaper than other handhelds like MSI Claw and Legion Go, but you can get a better value with Rog Xbox Ally X for $50 more. And notice how the big handheld channels barely talk about it anymore
I love my OLED, but Steam Deck is basically dead at this point.
And AI killed it.
Fuck AI.
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u/Total-Commission2100 5h ago
Isn’t it still sold out though?
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u/Nknights23 4h ago
Sold out would mean I can’t buy one right? Says available for purchase on the steam store.
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u/dbuck79 5h ago
It’s not worth it now for the hardware. Especially with the switch 2 at its price point
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u/mac4112 5h ago
I somewhat disagree. SteamOS and the trackpads make it better than the switch 2.
That said, it’s by no means worth what they’re charging. You could MAYBE argue that steamOS is somewhat an intangible price, like macOS, but once they put it out there for what they did that’s basically the baseline.
So it just leaves me feeling frustrated.
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u/dbuck79 5h ago
Yeah it’s a great device, but not at $800
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u/mac4112 4h ago
Exactly. It used to be the best bang for your buck game machine, maybe even computer period with the exception of a Mac Mini or the Neo.
Now it’s out of reach for most people and I cant in good faith recommend it to family and friends. It used to be an everyman’s device but this price hike shot it well into enthusiast tier.
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u/Nknights23 5h ago
Why would people pay more for the same hardware that’s already been boxed and shipped for over a year now?
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u/nameorfeed 4h ago
I know there is not much chance this is happening but i wish ssd/ram prices absolutely CRASHED and all major manufacturers would go fucking bankrupt
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u/Odin_Exodus 4h ago
I've never been an early adopter. I took a shot with the original Steam Deck and honestly have enjoyed it. I've only played a handful of games where time and space are limited so it served its purpose for me. That said, the current pricing is exceedingly high despite having to compete with mega corporations sourcing data center components.
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u/35andDying 4h ago
I bought the OLED version at the original price and even then it felt like the price was kind of steep.
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u/DutchBlaz3r 4h ago
I'd buy an OLED but... I'm just waiting for the steam deck 2... Or?.. is it not going to happen at this point 🫤
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u/EvilWarBW 4h ago
I am pleased, but for all the wrong reasons. Gotta sell my deck and might actually come out with less hard feelings about what I can get for it 😃
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u/Ki11s0n3 https://steam.pm/12xnsq 4h ago
Who could've seen this coming.
It's not just Steam Deck. All console sales have plummeted since the price hikes.
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u/Trade_King 4h ago
My steam deck has been collecting dust maybe time to sell it. I knew i was a great investor
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u/Birdonthewind3 4h ago
Tbh would've bought a steam deck when it restocked, even if it was maybe 50 or MAYBE 100. But like 300 increase? Fuck that. Now looking at switch more now
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u/GhostNappa101 4h ago
I'm sure valve prefers that over losing hundreds of dollars per unit. Valve isn't the enemy here, AI data centers driving up scarcity is.
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u/pardyball 4h ago
Before the price hike it was starting to become harder to recommend the SD just on its performance starting to become long in the tooth if you want to play the latest and greatest.
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u/IndependentNo8520 4h ago
I mean are we surprised?
That is a 4 year old hardware and as much as I love mine and use it almost daily that thing is not worth more than 500$ Oled model
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u/TheAllelujah 4h ago
Just sold my OLED for what I paid for it before the price hikes.
Honestly I loved the Steam Deck it was my second one but its just not powerful enough.
I'll wait for the next one.
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u/ororohowlett 4h ago
I’m not surprised. I was considering getting one but with the new price point the ROG Ally made more sense. I’ve accepted the fact that unless something crucial needs to be replaced on my PC, this will be my last tech purchase for awhile.
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u/Fresh_Mouse6818 4h ago
Didn’t the device also go in and out of stock a bunch too though? So slightly skewed data but still not a surprise
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u/trying_again_7 3h ago
yeah... and?
cost goes up -> less people buy
i understand the component crunch is affecting it
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u/wolfbetter 3h ago
You mean hte one handled that was great for value sells like shit when the one reason people would purchase it evaporates? NO SHIT SHERLOCK!
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u/Geekandhermit 3h ago
I love mine but would never replace it now when it dies and I’ve used it a hell of a lot. It’s older hardware now too so it would be kinda hard to swallow with it being the same price or slightly higher, let alone the jump it did.
Sucks though. I’m gonna go back to what i used to do as a kid and just optimise the living shit over of everything to squeeze more fps out of games on old hardware.
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u/Fitzftw7 3h ago
Sadly a natural consequence. It’s not Valve’s fault they had to raise costs so drastically, but the reason I bought a Deck all those years ago was because it was the perfect entry-level PC for a lifelong console gamer.
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u/Solid_Guess_7154 3h ago
literally the ONE thing that handhelds had WAY ahead over other consoles, was its price, without it, you're way better off with a laptop instead
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u/DeadSuperHero 3h ago
Damn it, I misread the headline to mean that the price had miraculously dropped 80%. 😑
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u/Sochi540 2h ago
Boycotts work people, the switch 2 had a period where you can only buy it from scalpers. We boycotted, Nintendo pulled a power move and sued the us government, and there was small window of time where the switch 2 was fair to the consumer. Profit
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u/dst_corgi 2h ago
Steam Deck was on my list of things to grab when I had some extra money burning a hole in my pocket, but there’s no shot I’m taking that plunge at these prices.
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u/FlyOrdinary1104 2h ago
I mean were people rushing to pick decks up in the same numbers as Switch 2? I always saw the deck as niche hardware like the Index and at that new price point I’d never consider it. It’s a cool handheld, I use my friend’s all the time when we’re doing multiplayer at his place but not $789 plus shipping/taxes cool. That price point makes me just want to unplug and carry my pc to a friend’s if I need to.
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u/Thund3rf0000t 14m ago
well DUH! sorry but at those prices I might as well save another 1200 bucks and build a PC with 6 times or more the performance!
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u/Kalas92x https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198301971522/ 5h ago
Oh no how could this ever have happened? Why don't people buy things that cost more then they're worth when they're overpriced as hell
This is one tricky mystery indeed...
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u/GraphXGames 5h ago
It's a brand. Increasing the price of a brand should only lead to increased sales.
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u/Bakanyanter 4h ago
Switch has thoroughly won the handheld space. Incredible how well Nintendo has managed it all.
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u/Kalas92x https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198301971522/ 4h ago
To be fair here, Nintendo uses hardware components today that were bad even 10 years ago, of course they'll be able to sell their stuff for cheaper
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u/sudopm 4h ago edited 2h ago
Calling the Switch 2 hardware “bad even ten years ago” seems difficult to defend when it can run Cyberpunk and is getting FFVII Revelation on day 1. Creating an affordable handheld with acceptable performance, battery life and broad developer support is the entire achievement, but you make it sound effortless and obvious.
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u/Bakanyanter 4h ago
Eh, it's not as easy as you make it seem. Just look at Steam Machine--outdated and underpowered components and still not that cheap.
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u/Kalas92x https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198301971522/ 4h ago
yep, 100%, never said SD or SM was worth it lol just that the switch has even worse hardware so it's cheaper
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u/Bakanyanter 4h ago
Yeah true. But imo it's a proper balance, otherwise people wouldn't buy the Switch. On top of that, Switch benefits from optimizations specific to it way more than PC.
Steam Machine is too overpriced and too underpowered. Steam Deck was imo very good value before price hike, but they hiked it way too much. It went from crazy good value to bad value. It's definitely very difficult to strike the best balance of hardware specs vs price. Too good hardware and you'll inflate price where no ones wants to buy it, but you can't ship it with shit hardware either.
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u/BigDog_Nick 5h ago
They’ve been on and off out of stock too! You can’t buy something that’s not available lol 😂
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u/daniu 5h ago
Of course it's not surprising, but the point people seem to be missing is that Valve doesn't really mind fewer devices being sold? It's not like it's their main business. As opposed to if they didn't raise prices - in which case they would regret more devices being sold on account of them being sold at a loss.
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u/Answer70 4h ago
K shaped economy. Only the rich are able to purchase things anymore and they only need so many Steam Decks. Regular people are priced out of ownership of anything these days.
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u/Ricdeau 4h ago
The price hike made it basically not worth it.
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u/Y3sandkn0w 3h ago
Not worth it to you*
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u/Ricdeau 3h ago
No, not worth in general, $900 is too high price for what it offers. Plummeting sales just confirm it.
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u/Big_Chungus1111 5h ago
Buy a PC that you can play all the games on or a Steam Deck that still doesn't have support for most? The options truly are hard
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u/mac4112 4h ago
I have heard mixed reports about Valves ROI on the SD.
I thought it was subsidized, but i also heard its not.
If it’s not, it really fucking should be. I get it, shits tight because of component shortages and all that.
But like, come on. This is fucking Valve we’re talking about. They can afford to at least break even on each unit considering how much the average person will end up spending on the store by the time they’ve gotten their use out of it
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u/thetavious 4h ago
"Gaming is already bordering on unaffordable"
No. Gaming on the newest systems and only playing the newest games is bordering on unaffordable.
Send the message people. Clear those decade old backlogs. Was in a thrift store just the other day, nice purple dell laptop, only $100.
Looked at the specs, and sure, it was windows 10 and underpowered. But for $100 thousands of classic games could be in reach.
There's a lot of hardy tech out there, perfectly good for gaming, that's useless to the tech-bros shortage machine. Break the chains of fomo and clear the backlogs.
If you don't have one, make one.
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u/KajMak64Bit 4h ago
Plot twist the sales dropped because they went to buy a Steam Machine instead
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u/Roccondil-s 4h ago
Or everyone who wanted one has bought one.
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u/KajMak64Bit 4h ago
Or that
But idk what's the point of buying a steam machine when they released SteamOS so just download SteamOS and install it on your PC and you got your own Steam Machine FOR FREE
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u/omniuni 5h ago
Phone and computer sales are struggling as well where price hikes are becoming obvious due to the memory shortage.