Folks began noticing final week that the Steam Deck was turning into not possible to purchase. Valve declined to touch upon the state of affairs on the time however has now up to date the PC gaming handheld’s retailer web page to notice that, sure, the Steam Deck is at present out of inventory and can stay that method now and again for the foreseeable future as a result of AI-fueled reminiscence disaster at present threatening every bit of the economic system that depends on computer systems to run.
“Be aware: Steam Deck OLED could also be out-of-stock intermittently in some areas on account of reminiscence and storage shortages,” reads the brand new disclaimer. “Steam Deck LCD 256GB is not in manufacturing, and as soon as offered out will not be obtainable.”
Valve nonetheless hasn’t provided any clearer sense of when the $550 Steam Deck OLED will likely be again in inventory or if the worth will likely be going up. The corporate put the unique $400 Steam Deck LCD mannequin on sale final fall till stock offered out at which level it was discontinued. Arguably one of the best bang-for-your-buck PC gaming handheld is now simply utterly unavailable in some areas simply two years after the most recent model of it launched.
It’s the most recent sufferer of the AI arms race by which “hyperscale” firms are investing a whole lot of billions in constructing out knowledge facilities with the intention to provide compute for working fashions like ChatGPT and Claude Code to churn out every little thing from meme slop to completed app tasks. Nobody fairly is aware of the place it’s all headed outdoors of guarantees that one fortunate AI firm will both create God or pop a 2008-style monetary bubble within the course of.
Within the meantime, markets that depend on reasonably priced reminiscence, like client electronics usually and gaming specifically, are getting utterly hammered. Sony is reportedly contemplating delaying the PS6 till 2029, the Nintendo might be going to have to boost the worth of the Swap 2 only a yr after it launched, and builders behind new blockbusters are already scrambling to optimize their video games for PC so gamers received’t must spend an additional $200 upgrading to 32GB of RAM with the intention to play them after they come out.
And naturally all of Valve’s personal {hardware} is at present in purgatory. With a brand new Steam Deck nonetheless a protracted methods off, the Half-Life firm’s focus for 2026 was a brand new compact gaming PC aimed squarely at lounge avid gamers. Valve was presupposed to reveal the worth and launch date by now however needed to push the pre-orders again because it figures out easy methods to supply a quickly dwindling provide of reasonably priced PC elements. I’m assured it’s all for a superb trigger.
