- Valve just announced a Steam Deck price increase
- It will increase more than 40% in the US and more than 30% elsewhere.
- There will be no hardware changes with the price increase.
Price increases, even for older devices, will be standard practice by 2026. However, none justify a ‘WTF’ as loud as Valve saying its OLED Steam Decks will cost close to 50% more in some regions, with smaller but still significant price increases elsewhere.
According to a blog post announcement in which Valve revealed that the handhelds were back in stock, it also dropped the price bomb. The $549 / £479 / AU$899 512GB model will now set you back $789 / £649 / AU$1,199, which is up $240 / £170 / AU$300 or a 43% increase in the US (and closer to 35% in the UK and Australia).
Meanwhile, the 1TB OLED Steam Deck will cost $949 / £779 / AU$1,429. That’s an increase of $300 / £210 / AU$380 from its previous cost of $649 / £569 / AU$1,049, representing a 46% price increase in the US and 36% elsewhere.
Notably, these price increases are not accompanied by any hardware upgrades. Instead, Valve explains that they were introduced to “reflect the current state of component costs and other global logistics challenges across the industry.” Component prices specifically blamed are “rising memory and storage costs.”
A warning that there will be more to come?
If you’re looking for a portable running gear, don’t rush to get one before more price increases arrive.
This announcement from Valve follows similarly catastrophic increases from Lenovo in April. We saw the Lenovo Legion Go 2 Ryzen Z2 Extreme 2TB jump from $1,000 to $2,849.99 (from $1,479.99). Meanwhile, the 1TB model is up $650 to $1,999.99. The less high-end AMD Ryzen Z2 16GB RAM model also saw an increase to $1,499.99, up from $1,099.99.
Outside of Australia, where the portable PC rose in price in February, the Asus Rog Xbox Ally X has so far dodged major increases, although that will likely change soon.
I love this Asus x Xbox laptop and use it primarily for Steam gaming. I set it up so that Steam’s Big Picture mode launches as soon as my handheld turns on to better mimic the simplicity of the Steam Deck, and I found the console comfortable to play as long as the battery can last, which is a decent number of hours even for heavier AAA titles.
So far in 2026, it has been where I have enjoyed Resident Evil 9, Kill the needle II, Zero parades for dead spiesand 007: First light among many others, and while the meatier games don’t run as well as they do on my static gaming rig, they still look solid and play very well, especially after some visual tweaks.
An alternative approach?
Alternatively, you can get a different type of handheld: the Nintendo Switch 2.
It’s not a PC gaming machine and lacks the incredible breadth of Steam’s catalogue, but it has three key advantages over laptops.
First, you get access to Nintendo exclusives like the Super Mario, legend of zeldaand Pokémon series. Yes, the console exclusivity is frustrating, but it gives Nintendo an advantage for fans of its franchises.
Secondly, and more importantly, I found the Switch 2 to be perfect for co-op. The Joy-Con pair you get with each console can be used together for single player or as individual controllers for many couch co-op adventures, whether it’s a competitive brawl on smash lastrunning through Mario Kart: Worldor form a team in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. You can play cooperative games on laptops, but both players will need a console, making it much more expensive.
Third, and most importantly, the Switch 2 costs much less but still packs plenty of power. It is priced at $449.99 / £395.99 / AU$699.95 and has yet to see a price increase. That said, one will arrive in a few months.
We know this because Nintendo itself has warned that the console will go up $50 in the US on September 1, 2026. Nintendo has yet to formally confirm a price increase in the UK and Australia, although its cost will likely increase there too.
So you’ve got a little more time to decide on a Nintendo console, but when it comes to the portable PC market, I’d act sooner rather than later if you’re desperate to get one, or risk serious disappointment when, not if, prices rise for the few machines that haven’t seen one yet.
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