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The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

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Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#21

Post by stonedivot »

datakan wrote: post #13
haburka wrote: post #9

I think people really underestimate the brand loyalty that valve has. They have consistently shown for 25+ years to strive for quality and I know I’m unlikely to get a headache if I purchase from them. Their hardware is really top notch, I have used a steam deck LCD for years and it was not until very recently that I had a single issue with a button that was easily fixable. Probably the purchases went down due to som…

I generally find Valve's software quality subpar but their ethics to be vastly superior to anyone else's. For that reason they are the only place I'll even look for games anymore. They aren't perfect but they at least don't hate me like Epic does.

What Valve software have you used that is subpar? It must be a lot of it since you said you "generally" find this to be true.

Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#22

Post by VerifiedReports »

movedx01 wrote: post #18
datakan wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I generally find Valve's software quality subpar but their ethics to be vastly superior to anyone else's. For that reason they are the only place I'll even look for games anymore. They aren't perfect but they at least don't hate me like Epic does.

What ethics do you see being superior in the company known for exposing underages to gambling? The anyone elses must be really bad guys. Yes I like my deck and I respect their contributions to gaming on linux, but Valve is no saint.

Virtue signal received.

Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#23

Post by wasfgwp »

haburka wrote: post #9

I think people really underestimate the brand loyalty that valve has. They have consistently shown for 25+ years to strive for quality and I know I’m unlikely to get a headache if I purchase from them. Their hardware is really top notch, I have used a steam deck LCD for years and it was not until very recently that I had a single issue with a button that was easily fixable. Probably the purchases went down due to som…

That’s a somewhat privileged view though? Most people are just unwilling to pay >$800 for a handheld console (or can’t actually afford it).

Presumably most potential buyers have PCs already that they use for gaming so it’s a luxury to spend that much on a Steam Deck.

Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#24

Post by ryukoposting »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #10

If competitors are not raising prices dramatically, then they're eating that loss. Steam should follow suit—at least with something like a loss-leader model. When I rewrote/released an old shareware game to Steam some years ago I made just enough money to buy a Steam Deck. Since then OLED Decks came out and I'm jealous. (With the prices of the new Steam Decks, I'm wondering now if there is instead a way to retrofit m…

Prices for other handhelds have gone through the roof, too.

And no, there probably isn't a way to retrofit. Deck OLED's internals were overhauled, too. The entire board is different, up to and including a die shrink, and rotating the SOC. I wouldn't bet on any of the internal ZIF connectors being in the same place.

Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#25

Post by datakan »

stonedivot wrote: post #21
datakan wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I generally find Valve's software quality subpar but their ethics to be vastly superior to anyone else's. For that reason they are the only place I'll even look for games anymore. They aren't perfect but they at least don't hate me like Epic does.

What Valve software have you used that is subpar? It must be a lot of it since you said you "generally" find this to be true.

The Steam client for starters but pretty much every game they initially released since 1997 was extremely buggy. They also struggle very hard to even release much anymore. I'll give them kudos on supporting OSS and their Proton development.

Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#26

Post by bryanlarsen »

nottorp wrote: post #4

But will Nintendo and the like be able to retain pricing for much longer? Of course they have better contracts but for how long?

Nintendo Switch pricing increases $50 September 1. It only has 1/4 of the RAM of the Deck, so it's not hit as bad.

Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#27

Post by pipes »

datakan wrote: post #13
haburka wrote: post #9

I think people really underestimate the brand loyalty that valve has. They have consistently shown for 25+ years to strive for quality and I know I’m unlikely to get a headache if I purchase from them. Their hardware is really top notch, I have used a steam deck LCD for years and it was not until very recently that I had a single issue with a button that was easily fixable. Probably the purchases went down due to som…

I generally find Valve's software quality subpar but their ethics to be vastly superior to anyone else's. For that reason they are the only place I'll even look for games anymore. They aren't perfect but they at least don't hate me like Epic does.

I used to agree with this sentiment. But now I think they engage in some nasty practices, like not allowing developers to list their games on other online stores at cheaper prices. That and they take a large cut (30 percent I think) Vs epic store at 12 percent as far as I can recall.

I mostly buy from gog because they give your the download to keep for life. Also I just like them. However getting their games to work on steam deck is more time consuming than just buying from steam

I'd be happy to find out that I've been misinformed but I'm pretty certain this is all true.

Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#28

Post by lenerdenator »

datakan wrote: post #15
lenerdenator wrote: post #7

Something desperately needs to pop the AI bubble. There's plenty of value to be generated with all of these other applications of computer hardware, value that could be generated much sooner than the horizon over which GenAI expects to see its first dollar of profit.

I've been curious to see what happens with all of this. I think a lot of people have been caught in a perpetual upgrade cycle they probably didn't need to be in but were out of decades old habits. The lack of hardware may start to change habits and behaviors to where the masses begin to ignore upgrade cycles. I'm already doing this myself.

Same here. I've been playing Fallout: New Vegas on a Lenovo T570 running Bazzite Linux.

It's playable. Framerates are good unless you dump a bunch of bullets at something while in VATS. No more buggy than it was on Windows when I was playing it back in university, which is saying something for a Bethesda engine game.

I paid for the game and hardware years ago. It's not streamer slop or what all of the hip young people are into, but the story's good and I like unwinding with it.

Honestly, it would have been one of the titles I would have played on a Steam Deck.

Hopefully more people look into the classics. We've hit a point of diminishing returns with things like framerate and resolution at living room/computer desk distances. VR, while cool, is expensive and often requires a dedicated area.

Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#29

Post by ece »

72% revenue decline from a 54% price increase, but how did profitability change? Some of the features of the Deck are still differentiating like the OLED screen and touch pads, and maybe some of the price increase is meant to keep it profitable at a low volume.

I personally think a controller and a VR headset that isn't standalone would be fine products for Valve to sell. Maybe they can't justify working on Steam OS without the Deck, Steam Machine or Frame. If they can still sell low volume differentiated products, good for them.

Re: The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%

#30

Post by wasfgwp »

lenerdenator wrote: post #5
glenncal wrote: post #3

Well, it's quite old hardware now too, I'm sure that has a big effect.

Consoles generally have older hardware. The attraction is convenience, not power.

Well in relative terms that hardly matters for consoles due to obvious reasons.

Developers of AAA games for PC can only (or are willing to) do so much to make it run acceptably on what’s a very underpowered PC compared to their target market.

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