Valve has announced that there are no plans to increase the price of its steam deck portable despite the system’s huge popularity. in an interview with IGNGabe Newell (head of Valve) confirmed that while pricing the petite PC so low has been tricky, he anticipates the current MSRP will remain fixed for now.
“I mean, part of what you do with pricing is you make a promise to customers. […] But we didn’t expect to adjust the SKU price,” Newell said during the interview, although he expressed surprise that the more expensive $649 (about £489 / AU$899) Steam Deck model that has 512GB of internal NVMe SSD storage and an anti-glare etched glass, outsold the base model at $399 (about £299 / AU$550).
You’re only getting 64GB of eMMC storage on the basic version of the laptop, a type of flash-based internal data storage that’s often found on tablets and smartphones. This is generally cheaper than SSDs, but much less when working with large files such as games, which may have influenced some people to opt for the more expensive Steam Deck model.
Given its popularity, it’s no wonder that Newell has also expressed interest in developing other variations with even higher specs, confirming that Valve is considering additional models of the laptop.
“Absolutely. […] That’s the great thing about the PC market. Right? that just goes on […] A year from now, AMD will have better parts. Right? A year from now, all component suppliers will expand capacity, expand performance or reduce costs. So we’re absolutely going to ride this as hard as we can. That’s part of the point of being in the PC space is that everyone is essentially driving everyone else’s price performance improvements over time.”
With the messy state of today’s computing components market, the Steam Deck could be the most affordable entryway into the world of PC gaming for beginners who just want a low-power system for awhile. With any luck, the stock will be enough to meet the demands, even if the lack of chips raises its ugly head again.
Review: A truly affordable gaming PC
gaming notebooks It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but they did offer a portable way to play PC games before the Steam Deck was a twinkle in Newell’s eye. While many options on the market haven’t been affected as much by the scarcity of chips as components like desktop graphics cards, the Steam Deck still has the potential to be a much more attractive alternative to desktop gaming than ever before.
That is, of course, if it performs admirably when in docked mode. The official Stead Deck Dock will feature a variety of ports that allow you to connect it to your router with an Ethernet cable or an external display via HDMI or DisplayPort. You’re also getting enough USB-A and USB-C ports to plug in all the peripherals you need, but unfortunately, the Dock isn’t expected until sometime after Q2 2022 and we still don’t know how much it will actually cost.
For now, you can use a capable USB-C bub, but it won’t be as stylish as the real thing. We suggest looking for a decent wireless gaming mouse to keep your desk space free.
Even some of the most affordable gaming laptops on the market are significantly pricier than the main Steam Deck, and with so much positive reviews starting to pour in about the Steam Deck’s performance, this may be the most affordable path to PC gaming for quite some time.
By Radar Games
