Regardless of a commerce struggle and rising inflation, the three-year-old Steam Deck hasn’t gone up in value but. In reality, it simply bought a reasonably main low cost. The $400 LCD mannequin will likely be 20 p.c off for the 2025 fall Steam sale. That makes it considerably cheaper than simply about each different current-gen gaming machine available on the market proper now, together with the 8-year-old Nintendo Change. It additionally places some wanted stress on new PC gaming handhelds launching this vacation.
The Steam Deck 256GB LCD mannequin will likely be $320 starting September 22. That’s primarily what the refurbished mannequin, at the moment out of inventory, normally prices. The 512GB OLED mannequin remains to be $550 and the 1TB OLED remains to be $650 (they arrive with barely larger screens, the next refresh price, and higher battery life). This week-long low cost leads into the Steam Autumn Sale which can kick off subsequent week on September 29 and run till October 6.
It’s not a nasty deal in any respect for one of the versatile gaming handhelds round. It’d simply be Valve clearing out outdated stock because it phases out the older LCD fashions totally, nevertheless it comes as each different platform squeezes gamers increasingly more on the checkout line. The Xbox Collection X/S simply bought its second value hike this 12 months, the PS5 all-digital is now $100 greater than it was at launch, and even the unique Change just lately went from $300 to $330. At this price, it’s arduous to not really feel just like the $450 Change 2 may not be far behind.
Then there’s the Steam Deck’s competitors within the PC gaming handheld race. We nonetheless don’t understand how a lot the brand new Xbox Ally Rog will likely be, although it’s lower than a month away from launch. And the Legion Go 2, which prices up to $1350 at the high end ($1,479 for the 2TB mannequin), is each extremely costly and extremely hard-to-get. Lenovo took so many pre-orders it’s already canceling some. That every one may be nice for “enthusiast gamers” nevertheless it’s not more likely to truly assist develop the general marketplace for PC gaming or handhelds. There’s solely an estimated 5 to 7 million Steam Decks on the market on the earth proper now, and it’s by far the best-selling moveable not made by Nintendo.
