If you want a Steam Deck, it will now cost you 200 euros more

Valve has announced a significant price increase for all models of the Steam Deck. Both the Steam Deck OLED model with 512GB of storage, which cost €569, will now cost €779 in Europe; and the Steam Deck OLED model with 1TB of storage, which cost €679, will now cost €919.

This is an increase of between €210 and €240, a rise that moves the Steam Deck away from the competitive price range it was in until now.

A catastrophic price increase

The reason for this is the economic situation and, very especially, the reality of the sector. As Valve explained in the statement, “these new prices reflect the current situation of component costs and other global logistical challenges affecting the entire sector.” Referring to the fact that the cost of RAM, due to the rise of AI, has skyrocketed, leading to other microcomputer hardware products, such as hard drives, increasing in price accordingly.

For the rest, the consolidated computer remains the same. Despite the price increase, the Steam Deck still has the same features as at launch. It is a price increase with no justification other than the fact that it now costs them more to make them.

This has not prevented the Steam Deck reservations from selling out instantly after the price increase. It seems that the new price will not be a problem for either Valve or some of the users. Moreover, all video game companies have already made this move: Nintendo and Xbox have raised the price of their consoles once this generation, while Sony has done it twice already. This raises questions about what the price of Valve’s console, the Steam Machine, will be.

In the future, we can expect to continue seeing movements in this direction as the situation in microcomputing continues to worsen due to AI. So, if you want a console, remember: the time is now, because tomorrow, it might be more than 200 euros more expensive.

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