All three fashions of the Steam Deck are out of inventory and have been out of inventory for at the least 24 hours, in line with a submit from Wario64. With costs for gaming PCs and parts skyrocketing, it is potential that this might imply a longer-term scarcity.
It’s no secret that PC {hardware} is in a bizarre place proper now. With reminiscence costs going by the roof, it was solely a matter of time earlier than handheld gaming PCs began getting hit by shortages and elevated costs. And that makes it odd timing for all three fashions of the Steam Deck to exit of inventory within the US.
As a result of the Steam Deck has been round for almost 5 years, it is potential that this can be a signal that Valve is on the point of wind down manufacturing on essentially the most reasonably priced handheld gaming PC. Both that, or increase the costs in response to elevated RAM costs. Nevertheless it’s most likely not that severe.
There may be a lot of cause to be hopeful that is only a short-term regional scarcity. As a result of whereas a submit on Tom’s Hardware noticed that the scarcity extends to Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea, the system remains to be accessible within the UK and the EU on the time of writing.
With the hand-held nonetheless being accessible in Europe, it is probably that is only a short-term regional scarcity. In any case, anybody that wishes to get into PC gaming proper now most likely finds the low worth of the Steam Deck enticing, given the skyrocketing prices on just about each different piece of {hardware}. It’s not an excessive amount of of a stretch to think about that the demand for Valve’s handheld is larger than regular.
It’s probably that the demand will stay excessive, main as much as the Steam Machine. However lately, Valve put out a weblog submit saying that it is pushed again its mini gaming PC because of the reminiscence shortages. Both means, I’ve reached out to Valve for remark, and I will replace this text if and when the corporate responds. Till then, let’s simply hope that that is only a non permanent blip and never the top of the Steam Deck.
Jackie Thomas is the {Hardware} and Shopping for Guides Editor at IGN and the PC parts queen. You’ll be able to observe her @Jackiecobra