Valve raises Steam Deck prices - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297976 - May 2026 (267 comments)
Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
31–40 of 40 posts
Re: Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
#32I love my Steam Deck aside from the quality control issues I ran into, one of which required an RMA. It's really hard to justify $1000 for it when the Switch 2 is $450 (soon $500). I do think there's a bright future for PC handhelds, especially when (not if) ARM processors can be utilized. I'm less sure about that if prices keep rising since that quickly becomes the difference between niche hobbyist device and mainst…
> It's really hard to justify $1000 for it when the Switch 2 is $450 For someone without an existing library, sure, but if you have a massive existing Nintendo/Switch1 or Steam library, that's going to drive your decision making far more than the price tag.
I think that's a factor for sure, but is less important (generally) as the price gap increases. The Steam Deck also has a disadvantage in that only some of your existing library will be playable on the device.
There's definitely a price point for some where it will make sense to rebuild your library on the Switch vs pay the higher cost of a Deck.
Re: Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
For people who have a steam library, it's an incredible value for money. When I bought mine, I basically not only had a mobile gaming option, but a nice one, and one that already had access to 70% of my substantial Steam Library, with many developers promising Deck-optimized settings and such. It's genuinely great hardware and a great experience. So much so (and because Windows is such a shitpile) I actually moved my…
I have to disagree. The low resolution of the screen is my biggest issue. Many UI elements and such are just genuinely difficult to read. Modern games are designed for 1080p or more. Rendering them at 800p gives quite poor results. I mostly use my Deck hooked up to the TV now.
The comment i see the most on reddit is the refresh rate and the battery life are the deal breaker with the price. Very interested to see the pricing on the steam machine. i was looking forward to it, but looks like it could be over $1000 if they adjust pricing up 40%. but again, id imagine it sells out fast.
Re: Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
#34I have seen some thoughts via comments on this news on other platforms and the prevailing kneejerk response to this is somehow that Valve is bad at managing their supply chain as opposed to being one of the last hardware manufacturers to raise prices in the gaming space. The Ally family, while faster, launched at the higher end, Sony raised the cost of the PlayStation, Microsoft with the Xbox, and even Nintendo. All…
> I have seen some thoughts via comments on this news on other platforms and the prevailing kneejerk response to this is somehow that Valve is bad at managing their supply chain as opposed to being one of the last hardware manufacturers to raise prices in the gaming space
Gamers are one of the angriest customer bases you can have in tech. It's a vocal minority, but they make a lot of noise.
The angry-gamer audience capture is pulling a lot of journalism outlets more toward ragebait stories. Some of the hardware review sites I visited have started to have more headlines about the current thing we're supposed to be angry about than hardware news. YouTube channels are really bad at this, with channels like Gamers Nexus and others shifting to more drama and attack content.
Re: Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
#35I love my Steam Deck aside from the quality control issues I ran into, one of which required an RMA. It's really hard to justify $1000 for it when the Switch 2 is $450 (soon $500). I do think there's a bright future for PC handhelds, especially when (not if) ARM processors can be utilized. I'm less sure about that if prices keep rising since that quickly becomes the difference between niche hobbyist device and mainst…
Android handhelds (e.g. AYN Thor, Odin 3, Retroid Pocket 6) have been becoming more and more useful for PC gaming via apps like GameNative and GameHub. See for example, Elden Ring: https://youtu.be/GlzMkqFmKjo?si=w9q-j2ntt154b0--&t=621
Re: Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
#36Still excellent hardware, and I don’t entirely fault the company for the price hike (though I do believe they could’ve eaten part of it for the goodwill and told Gaben he’d had to forego another yacht or tender ship for a year or two), but man this price makes it a non-starter for me. I regret not buying one when I had the chance, but I’m not paying a grand for four-year-old hardware. That’s dangerously close to Fram…
Today's grand is worth $750 from a few years ago, and seems like you just need to wait a bit for it to get even cheaper.
Re: Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
For people who have a steam library, it's an incredible value for money. When I bought mine, I basically not only had a mobile gaming option, but a nice one, and one that already had access to 70% of my substantial Steam Library, with many developers promising Deck-optimized settings and such. It's genuinely great hardware and a great experience. So much so (and because Windows is such a shitpile) I actually moved my…
I have to disagree. The low resolution of the screen is my biggest issue. Many UI elements and such are just genuinely difficult to read. Modern games are designed for 1080p or more. Rendering them at 800p gives quite poor results. I mostly use my Deck hooked up to the TV now.
Everybody's going to have their own experience, but I haven't found this to be true at all. I've played a lot of games on my Deck and only really had UI visibility issues with a handful of them. For the rest, it didn't even cross my mind.
I think a big part of this is that many (most?) modern games are designed to be played on big screens at a distance (e.g. TV couch). The apparent size of the display in that scenario isn't much different from a Steam Deck held naturally.
I just wish the Deck had VRR. That and the general lack of power are my only real issues with it, and the power isn't that big a deal given the massive back catalog it supports.
Re: Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
#38I love my Steam Deck aside from the quality control issues I ran into, one of which required an RMA. It's really hard to justify $1000 for it when the Switch 2 is $450 (soon $500). I do think there's a bright future for PC handhelds, especially when (not if) ARM processors can be utilized. I'm less sure about that if prices keep rising since that quickly becomes the difference between niche hobbyist device and mainst…
> It's really hard to justify $1000 for it when the Switch 2 is $450 (soon $500).
I had a Nintendo Switch 1 and sold it. My wife wanted to play the latest Pokemon release, she did for 2 months, then it sat unused for 3 years in its charging deck.
If you like some titles that Nintendo has to offer, then sure (I never understood the appeal of the Zelda saga for instance).
If you want a portable PC optimized for gaming with a huge library and where you can also do anything else you want, including modding it, 1000$ is still a bargain for what it offers. EDIT: and the library will keep expanding as Proton keeps maturing.
Re: Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
#39I have seen some thoughts via comments on this news on other platforms and the prevailing kneejerk response to this is somehow that Valve is bad at managing their supply chain as opposed to being one of the last hardware manufacturers to raise prices in the gaming space. The Ally family, while faster, launched at the higher end, Sony raised the cost of the PlayStation, Microsoft with the Xbox, and even Nintendo. All…
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Re: Valve hikes Steam Deck prices by more than 40%, blaming rising costs
#40I love my Steam Deck aside from the quality control issues I ran into, one of which required an RMA. It's really hard to justify $1000 for it when the Switch 2 is $450 (soon $500). I do think there's a bright future for PC handhelds, especially when (not if) ARM processors can be utilized. I'm less sure about that if prices keep rising since that quickly becomes the difference between niche hobbyist device and mainst…
> It's really hard to justify $1000 for it when the Switch 2 is $450 For someone without an existing library, sure, but if you have a massive existing Nintendo/Switch1 or Steam library, that's going to drive your decision making far more than the price tag.
The nice thing about the Switch 2 is you can find a plethora of games at your local library (if you have one, that is). That's essentially how my wife played 20+ games with her Switch 1.