Valve has announced significant price hikes for its Steam Deck OLED models, with increases exceeding 40%—or nearly £200—citing "rising memory and storage costs" and global logistical challenges. The 512GB model now costs $789 (£649, €779), up 43% (£170), while the 1TB version is priced at $949 (£779, €919), a 46% (£210) increase.
In a blog post, the company emphasized that the hardware itself remains unchanged, attributing the adjustments to "the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges across the industry as a whole." The Steam Deck OLED, launched in November 2023, is now the only model sold directly by Valve, as the cheaper LCD versions have been discontinued. The newer models had been out of stock for months prior to this announcement.
The price surge has disappointed many gamers. One user on Bluesky lamented, "There goes my hopes of ever getting an OLED."
Industry analysts warn the increase could foreshadow higher prices for Valve's upcoming Steam Machine console, which lacks a release date or confirmed price. Chris Scullion, deputy editor of Video Games Chronicle, noted that rising RAM and component costs might lead Valve to "reconsider releasing it at all" or delay until market conditions improve.
Valve's move follows a broader trend of hardware and subscription price hikes across the gaming industry. Sony raised the PlayStation 5 price by £90 in the UK and $100 in the US in March, citing global economic pressures. Nintendo also announced a price increase for the Switch 2 globally from September. Meanwhile, RAM prices have climbed due to soaring demand from AI data centers, further straining component costs.
Despite the upward trend, Xbox recently bucked the pattern by lowering its Game Pass subscription price, though it removed day-one access to new Call of Duty titles.
For now, Valve's Steam Deck OLED price hike underscores the volatile nature of component markets, leaving gamers and industry watchers speculating on what lies ahead for portable and console gaming.