Steam Deck price hike deepens hardware affordability crisis

Valve has sharply raised Steam Deck prices, lifting the 512GB OLED model from $549 to $789 and the 1TB model to $949 — a $300 jump for the top tier. The move undercuts hopes that Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine would offer a cheaper alternative to a full gaming PC.

This increase follows similar moves across the industry. Microsoft raised the price of its standard Series X to $650, Sony pushed the PS5 Pro up to $900, and Nintendo set the Switch 2 at $500 — a figure that now looks comparatively modest. Several factors are driving these hikes.

Last year’s tariffs announced by President Donald Trump targeted many countries known for manufacturing consoles and injected uncertainty for hardware makers. More immediately, an AI-driven RAM shortage is squeezing supply: companies building data centers need large amounts of memory, and memory manufacturers can earn more selling specialized parts to those customers than to consumer hardware makers.

United States

steam deck, valve, price hike, 512gb oled, 1tb model, steam machine, series x, ps5 pro, switch 2, ram shortage