Steam Issues Biggest Hardware Price-Hike Gamers Have Ever Seen

Valve has issued the biggest price hike for its handheld Steam Deck that we’ve ever seen so far. It’s truly getting out of hand.

This console generation has to be the worst when it comes to how expensive it's getting, and that includes PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo. We’d struggle to find a generation that has gotten more expensive, the older the hardware gets, at least to this extent.

Typically, as a console generation nears its end, it drops in price, with gamers well aware that the new shiny toys are not that far away. However, the likes of the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, as well as the last-gen and new-gen Nintendo Switch consoles have all increased in price.

Now the Steam Deck Gets a Huge Price Hike

As confirmed on the official Steam Deck store page, the price of the console has massively increased across the world. In some cases, those prices have jumped from a whopping £210/$300. It was already expensive for Valve’s impressive hardware, but this is likely to price out many gamers who were hoping to save up for one.

How Much Has the Steam Deck Price Increased?

• Steam Deck OLED 512GB has increased from £479/$549 to £649/$789 (+£170/$240).
• Steam Deck OLED 1TB has increased from £569/$649 to £779/$949 (+£210/$300).

At this time, refurbished Steam Decks sold on the Steam store have not been affected by this recent price increase. Well, not yet anyway.

Gamers React to the Price Increase

“Jesus Christ. That has to be the biggest price increase for a console yet,” exclaimed Zhukov-74.

“That is a significant price hike and makes them instantly not worth it. Does not bode well for the Frame or the Steam Machine,” declared ItsYaBoyBackAgain.

“Four-year-old tech getting a price increase is the most 2026 thing ever,” said CarefullEugene.

Why Are Consoles Getting More Expensive?

Video game manufacturers in recent years have blamed the COVID pandemic, then the worldwide GPU shortage and now Donald Trump's tariffs for items coming into the US.

Some of those excuses may be true, but it makes little sense that because the US has higher tariffs on imports, it then makes consoles more expensive for the rest of the world. I see it as an excuse to milk consumers more than they already are, but I digress.

It certainly makes it a concerning prospect of how expensive the Steam Deck 2 could be. Hopefully, it won't get even more silly than it already is.

READ MORE: Steam Deck 2 Gets Surprise Update, Joins Project Helix In Next-Gen Line-Up