• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Steam Deck Price Hike. top model now $949

So much for folks who were certain the Switch 2 would fail because the Steam Deck (and Windows handhelds) existed. Obviously you get OLED and 512GB of storage, but $789 makes even the price-hiked Switch 2 (come September) look like a bargain.

The wild thing is that this is a 2023 device that was a refinement of a 2022 device, so Valve can't pin this on newer tech.
 
vegeta535 said:
Gaming is in a bad spot right now atm. It is only going to get worse. Quality of games have been pretty low the last few years also.
Click to expand...
and i doubt it's going to get much better graphic-wise anytime in the near future because game devs are going to be looking at the steam hardware survey and see the majority of people using older hardware and if next-gen consoles do come out anytime soon i doubt the common joe will be able to afford one, let alone a cutting edge gaming pc, so there will be a very slow adoption rate, especially when when you calculate in what they'll cost once you add on the "scalper tax" that plagued last gen and everything else desirable these days it seems. and really we should've already had a steam deck 2 by now, because let's be honest, the steam deck is pretty anemic hardware wise. so yeah, like you said, bad spot ...real bad spot. man, F.ai
 
It was only a matter of time before they had to give in and pass on costs to the consumer.

If you follow the spot price trends of the two main drivers, RAM (16GB LPDDR5 chips) and storage (comparable 2230 1TB), it's almost a one-to-one pass-through for the price increase.

If I were to take a guess, I think they were waiting for some semblance of a new equilibrium in pricing on these parts before setting the new baseline.
 
Would have been nice if they gave a decent heads up like Nintendo did raising their Switch 2 prices in September. Nintendo can prolly subsidize it a bit more with it being restricted to their storefront, but realistically I'm sure 95% of software used on Steam Decks are using Steam as their primary storefront for games as well. So I think they could have subsidized it a bit more than forwarding 100% of the additional costs to their customers like this.
 
kram182 said:
Gabe's third yacht and brain chip implant company isn't going to pay for itself!
Click to expand...
Its not him pocketing the profits on this BS.
Sanjay Mehrotra Microns CEO has just stated that Micron will become a thousand dollar stock. :)
SK Hynix just split their CEO position into 2... :)
Microsoft is wining and dining Hynix...
The Memory companies and their leadership is getting very rich.
 
ChadD said:
Its not him pocketing the profits on this BS.
Sanjay Mehrotra Microns CEO has just stated that Micron will become a thousand dollar stock. :)
SK Hynix just split their CEO position into 2... :)
Microsoft is wining and dining Hynix...
The Memory companies and their leadership is getting very rich.
Click to expand...

Steam could do this thing called subsidizing/eating the costs (especially since the Steam Deck etc are just devices to get you to buy more Steam games - of which Valve gets a further 30% cut from) - they're a lean/slimly staffed, very high profit/multi-billion dollar company - but, they don't even buy more servers/increase server capacity during Steam sales, leading to outages at the start of every Steam sale - because they're also a very cheap/stingy company. Because again:
kram182 said:
Gabe's third yacht and brain chip implant company isn't going to pay for itself!
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
kram182 said:
Steam could do this thing called subsidizing/eating the costs (especially since the Steam Deck etc are just devices to get you to buy more Steam games - of which Valve gets a further 30% cut from) - they're a lean/slimly staffed, very high profit/multi-billion dollar company - but, they don't even buy more servers/increase server capacity during Steam sales, leading to outages at the start of every Steam sale - because they're also a very cheap/stingy company. Because again:
Click to expand...

I think its a bit insane to expect companies to eat 3 or $400 per unit cause they like us.

In this case though the better move for them would have just been to not restock the Deck. Simply say it was EOL. Jacking the price up to where its at now was probably terrible PR. Just discontinue it.
 
ChadD said:
I think its a bit insane to expect companies to eat 3 or $400 per unit cause they like us.

In this case though the better move for them would have just been to not restock the Deck. Simply say it was EOL. Jacking the price up to where its at now was probably terrible PR. Just discontinue it.
Click to expand...

With the fact of
kram182 said:
the Steam Deck etc are just devices to get you to buy more Steam games - of which Valve gets a further 30% cut from
Click to expand...

I think it would be very justified for them to eat the costs - even if not in total for sake of argument then almost/substantially - cause it's not just games they get a cut from but also DLCs/expansions for those games - and all those in game skins etc (not cause they like you, they don't, no company does)

But Gabe funds his brain chip company and underwater sea expeditions in his custom made submarines with a custom made support fleet from your money spent on Steam/Steam Deck/etc - so that's why a subsidy won't happen and why the servers have to go down every single Steam sale for over a decade now.
 
Last edited:
kram182 said:
With the fact of


I think it would be very justified for them to eat the costs - even if not in total for sake of argument then almost/substantially - cause it's not just games they get a cut from but also DLCs/expansions for those games - and all those in game skins etc (not cause they like you, they don't, no company does)

But Gabe funds his brain chip company and underwater sea expeditions in his custom made submarines with a custom made support fleet from your money spent on Steam/Steam Deck/etc - so that's why a subsidy won't happen and why the servers have to go down every single Steam sale for over a decade now.
Click to expand...
Gabe can do as he pleases with his money. You bought your game. His cut is his cut.

If costs are up 400 dollars. For Valve to eat that s you suggest. Every deck they subsidize would need to sell $1333.33 to break even revenue wise. Factor in all costs as valve does pay taxes and have costs... It's not 30% profit that is revenue. Really they would probably need to sell 2k worth of games to a deck owner to cover a 400 dollar subsidy.

That math doesn't math. Even if we say ok every deck owner spends a grand a year in games which I doubt. Your asking them to take Zero profit for 2 years on every deck sale. That is just stupid and an impossible ask.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
This subsidizing cost things is a wild take.

I buy one - two games a year.

Last PC game I bought - Battlefield 6.
Last Switch 2 game I bought - Final Fantasy VII & Remake pack when that dropped
Last PS5 game I bought - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth at release

I know I'm on the low end of game purchasing. I just don't find many new games all that exciting. I like deep, involved stories that don't have some 'tarded-ass gameplay loop/mechanic *cough*DooM*cough*. I'm somewhat of a completionist, so games last me years.


According to Circana 2025 US Survey
- 63% of US gamers buy two or less games per year
- 33% buy less than one, often zero
- 18% buy about two (once every six months)
- 12% buy about one

Only 4% buy more than one game per month
Another 22% buy roughly once every three months, so around four per year.
This excludes free-to-play titles, subscriptions, and giveaways.

Console gamers tend to buy slightly more full games on average.

Overage average for console and PC gamers hovers around two game purchases per year.

There is no way that you are subsidizing costs in any meaningful way, especially if the lifecycle of a unit (such as the steamdeck) is just a few years between releases.
 
Yea subsided model doesn't work for Valve at a $300+ loss per unit. No doubt Valve has numbers of how many games that own steam decks owners purchase. I wouldnt be surprised if it only a couple hundred average a year per owner which proabaly were steam sale purchases.
 
I already thought the steam deck was overpriced a couple years ago, this is just insane now.

On the bright side, games will have to optimize for older hardware, so if you already have one or have a PC built then you are good. This really only sucks for new people getting into the hobby now.
 
ivandagiant said:
I already thought the steam deck was overpriced a couple years ago, this is just insane now.
Click to expand...
Yep, I can't see myself spending much over $500 for something handheld like this - then or now. The Steam Machine is more interesting to me but seeing as the now $1000 Steam Deck sold out in 24hr, I don't think there is much hope for the Steam Machine/gabecube being a reasonable value. I'm still holding out for the Steam Frame though.
 
ivandagiant said:
On the bright side, games will have to optimize for older hardware, so if you already have one or have a PC built then you are good. This really only sucks for new people getting into the hobby now.
Click to expand...
that would ahve been true until a PS6 becamse popular enough for game to not care and optimise for a RX 6700/3700x CPU/regular pci 4.0 nvme speed/16-20GB of available system ram + vram type of hardware.

Crimson desert, resident evil requiem, pragmata, forza horizon 6, 007 first light all run well on old hardware, but if you are big game that try to sale on xbox/ps5, supporting old hardware is not an option it is a must, even if PC hardware was the cheapest it ever was right now.

One issue for new people is that old 5 years+ hardware is not that cheap, that old 6700xt still selling over $270....
 
This does not give me hope that the steam frame releases for even 1K. I’m bracing now for 1500usd.
 
DukenukemX said:
Yea no, Valve fucked up.
Click to expand...
Negative. People just don't fully grasp the reality of the situation fully yet. They simply delayed matching market parity for as long as the could, and now people are shocked as if it was unexpected.

Flogger23m said:
If you think those will be $500 or so for much longer, I have news for you. :(
Click to expand...

Up, up, and away we go!

Screenshot_20260528-125726.png


SamuelL421 said:
The Steam Deck models restocked yesterday at the (crazy) new pricing have already sold out…
Click to expand...

And they'll do it again, and sell out of all the Steam Machines as well.
 
Forgive me for daring not to glaze the holy Valve/Gabe and thinking Gabe could take a loss on the Deck this late in its life to just have a custom made submarine with an 'off the shelf' support fleet instead of custom there too :rolleyes:
 
Love my OG Deck, but I loved it at OG Deck prices. I wanted to get one for the kids, but it looks like we’ll have to wait out the pricing situation for now.

Still, I don’t begrudge Valve. Their input costs have exploded, and we can’t expect them to work for free.
 
ChadD said:
I think its a bit insane to expect companies to eat 3 or $400 per unit cause they like us.

In this case though the better move for them would have just been to not restock the Deck. Simply say it was EOL. Jacking the price up to where its at now was probably terrible PR. Just discontinue it.
Click to expand...

They don’t need to discontinue it because they have sold it out at the new, higher price. The market has spoken, and the market told Valve the new price is fine. It sucks because the Steam Deck was the single best deal in gaming by a long shot, but Valve also has to buy RAM and storage like the rest of us, and I totally agree. We can’t just expect them to continue to eat everything to “do us a solid”.
 
kram182 said:
Forgive me for daring not to glaze the holy Valve/Gabe and thinking Gabe could take a loss on the Deck this late in its life to just have a custom made submarine with an 'off the shelf' support fleet instead of custom there too :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Valve is probably the most reasonable company in tech from a consumer standpoint. Memory prices have skyrocketed since they launched the product and they have to bid on these components like everyone else. I’m sure you ask your boss for a pay raise every year as well. Do you expect him to say “why don’t you do me a solid and work for less”?

Businesses can’t indefinitely take losses or they will cease to be in business.
 
It selling out doesn't mean anything. They could had 100 units or scalpers jumped on it. I was seeing steam Decks going g for over $1k before the price increase.
 
HockeyJon said:
Valve is probably the most reasonable company in tech from a consumer standpoint. Memory prices have skyrocketed since they launched the product and they have to bid on these components like everyone else. I’m sure you ask your boss for a pay raise every year as well. Do you expect him to say “why don’t you do me a solid and work for less”?

Businesses can’t indefinitely take losses or they will cease to be in business.
Click to expand...

Subsidizing the Steam Deck wouldn't put Valve out of business. Again, multi billion dollar company with billions in net annually, not gross. And a famously thin/lean infrastructure/staff to pay for.

It would mean Gabe gets one less yacht or an off-the-shelf submarine support fleet vs a custom one.
 
but they could be making so little of them that the price does not really matter either way, small price tag and if you do not have volume end up bought by scalper and resold at the askable price.
 
kram182 said:
Subsidizing the Steam Deck wouldn't put Valve out of business. Again, multi billion dollar company with billions in net annually, not gross. And a famously thin/lean infrastructure/staff to pay for.

It would mean Gabe gets one less yacht or an off-the-shelf submarine support fleet vs a custom one.
Click to expand...

Part of the reason Valve does well is they do things that make money, not loose money. Putting everything into maintaining Steam as a platform is their priority. It allows them to be lean to. If push comes to shove they would probably exit the hardware market and I don't blame them. They can just continue making Steam consumer friendly and offering good security (which has been better than Microsoft, Sony/Playstation) to protect its users.
 
Flogger23m said:
Putting everything into maintaining Steam as a platform is their priority.
Click to expand...

Again the servers go down at the start of every Steam sale, for over a decade.

Because Valve is a highly profitable yet highly cheap/stingy company.

Taking one for the team and subsidizing the Steam Deck, would be actual 'consumer friendliness'.

But again Gabe's brain chip company and custom submarine fleet isn't gonna pay for itself nor custom design itself, so no subsidies for you and so what if the servers go down consistently for over a decade like clockwork.
 
kram182 said:
Again the servers go down at the start of every Steam sale, for over a decade.

Because Valve is a highly profitable yet highly cheap/stingy company.
Click to expand...
So? This happens to, like, everyone. Should every publisher maintain at all times enough servers to handle peak loads? How much would that cost, when a bunch of them will be mostly idle? That cost, whatever it is, will get passed on straight to gamers.
 
1_rick said:
So? This happens to, like, everyone. Should every publisher maintain at all times enough servers to handle peak loads? How much would that cost, when a bunch of them will be mostly idle? That cost, whatever it is, will get passed on straight to gamers.
Click to expand...

Again, Valve could eat the costs - even if for just twice a year - and would in no way be in danger of going out of business or not making billions still in net profit from doing so. I bet Gabe could even still afford his yachts in the end.

But God forbid someone not glaze Gabe and Valve like the rest of the gaming community. Examples of them not doing things in the name of and simply for consumer friendliness, get lambasted and defended with claims of consumer friendliness 😂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top