Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/valves-steam-deck-price-jumps-by-nearly-50-percent-now-costs-usd949-for-a-1tb-model/

It is perhaps not surprising that the price of the Steam Deck has gone up, given the state of everything, but even so, just how far it's jumped is straight-up shocking. The 512GB OLED model has gone from $549 to $789, and the 1TB unit has leapt from $649 to $949, an increase of nearly 50%.

So you can enjoy the same gut-punch sticker shock I felt, this is what it looks like in my home country of Canada, where a 1TB Steam Deck now costs $1,349 plus applicable sales taxes—so, in my province, that sucker is going to ring up to well over $1,500. To which I say, what the hell?

And look, it's true. Memory, SSDs, and GPUs have all skyrocketed in price, largely due to the increasingly desperate pursuit of AI, and the expectation is that as bad as things are, it's going to get worse.

In a similar vein, "global logistical challenges" points us primarily toward the war launched by the US against Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has utterly screwed everything and similarly shows no movement toward a satisfactory resolution and will almost certainly get worse.

Regardless of the reasons, though, it's a hell of a jump, and I imagine an awful lot of people who were gearing up to buy a Steam Deck are now postponing those places. It also bodes poorly for the upcoming Steam Machine, the SteamOS-powered gaming PC announced in 2025. In March, Valve recommitted to launching sometime in 2026, but a date and pricing still haven't been announced—and given the importance of putting it out at a palatable price, I will not be at all surprised if Valve decides to roll the dice on everything sucking less in 2027.

The good news, as far as it goes, is that Steam Decks are now back in stock, so you can buy one—if you've got a Scrooge McDuck-sized pile of cash lying around, that is.

…..and it’s gone.

I remember those people who were estimating the Gabe Cube would be under a grand. Those dudes were funny.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Fuck the USA and fuck billionaire tech bros

I mean... When component prices were half of what they are now that was at least in the realm of possibility.

Someone pulled some DRAM cost graphs, and with the >500% increase that's happened, the Deck did have to rise at least $200 to remain viable.

We really can't have nice things, first crypto and now AI insanity is really doing its best to remove computing as an affordable hobby.

I'm thinking $1200-$1500 right now. By the time it actually comes out, who knows? Closer to $2k?

I always had $1200 in the back of my head, but now I'm thinking closer to 1500. Otherwise they risk making the Deck or Machine look not worth it compared to the other.

The AYN Odin 3 now supports GNU+Linux, could prove to be a viable alternative.

https://www.androidauthority.com/ayn-odin-3-linux-handheld-3658057/

I'd rather pay valve more than scalpers anything. But this is steep.

I'm hoping the new Deck prices are due to a small production run, and that the Steam Machine will have economies of scale to bring the price down at least a little.

It'll be at least $1,000 now for sure, though. I doubt it'll be more than $1,500 because the more powerful base model Framework Desktop is that price. I'm just really hoping Valve doesn't seriously delay shipment or announce price hikes for the many people who won't be able to afford it on launch. Having to wait over a year for a Steam Deck due to their preorder system was painful.