If you've wanted a Steam Deck at any point in the past few months, then you've almost certainly come across a giant “Out of Stock” icon on Valve's website, with the company noting that global market conditions, aka a massive RAM shortage, are to blame.
“Steam Deck OLED may occasionally be out of stock in some regions due to memory and storage shortages,” reads a disclaimer on Valve's website. “The Steam Deck LCD 256GB is discontinued and will no longer be available once sold out.”
That was in February and so far the Steam Deck has not yet returned. Valve is aware of this and is working hard to restock, but it's complicated.
Steam Deck is the first of many video game RAM shortage tragedies
Valve's handheld is currently sold out due to lack of RAM and memory.
As first shared by The Verge, Valve's Pierre-Loup Griffais said the company is “working hard to try to resolve this,” but that “the world is a different place than it was last year.”
Griffais is almost certainly referring to the massive boom in RAM and storage that has resulted in a global shortage of supplies, as well as the accompanying price increases for more electronics, including the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles. In some cases, all the RAM costs more than the base PlayStation 5.
The shortage has not only affected the available stock and prices of these items, but has also seemingly led to the delay of future electronics, including the successor to the PS5 and Xbox Project Helix. Of course, Valve is no stranger to these delays, having witnessed firsthand that the planned launch of the Steam Machine remains in limbo.
Despite market conditions, Valve is still pushing
We now have updated information on the future of the Steam Deck thanks to Valve revealing the price and delivery date of its updated Steam Controller, one of three projects the company has revealed, along with Steam Frame and Steam Machine.
Although the trio of products were launched together, the controller will be released on its own, and it's clear why. “This has no RAM and it's not that complicated to get out the door,” hardware engineer Steve Cardinali told Polygon.
The company still plans to release the two projects sometime in 2026 and plans to provide new information soon.
“We don't have exact timeline details to share today,” Griffais told IGN. “And we're working hard to get them out there. I think we certainly expect to have some news on that soon, but overall I think things are going well.”
As for when Valve's own website will finally get rid of that “Out of Stock” statement for the Steam Deck is anyone's guess. The secondary market is predictably out of control, so a little more patience is required.
- Mark
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steam (valve)
- Original release date
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February 25, 2022
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$399-$649
- Operating system
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SteamOS 3 (based on the architecture)
- Processor
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Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5 GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
- Resolution
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1200×800
I'm kind of okay with not getting new consoles for a while
PlayStation and Xbox will eventually release new consoles, so why not wait a few more years?
