Steam Deck stock issues could hit various regions, Valve warns

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With reports suggesting the PlayStation 6 might not arrive until 2029, Valve is now cautioning that Steam Deck supplies are limited. If you were planning to get a Steam Deck as a gift, it’s best to consider purchasing Steam gift cards instead.

We’ve heard similar news from Valve before. They recently published a Steam Hardware FAQ explaining that the price and release date of the Steam Machine and Steam Frame are changing. This is due to rising memory costs, which are being driven up by the increasing demand for memory from new data centers built to support artificial intelligence. These AI systems require massive amounts of storage and memory.

Currently, all models of the Steam Deck are sold out in the US. Valve also warns that the new Steam Deck OLED may experience occasional shortages because of limited supplies of memory and storage.

Even though the Steam Deck is already available, Valve is still making more of them. This means they have to respond to current demand, as they didn’t produce a huge number upfront that they could just store and sell over time.

When the Steam Deck initially launched, Valve faced supply issues due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This meant customers had to reserve a unit and wait their turn to buy one.

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Currently, the Steam Deck is still available to buy in the UK. Recently, on February 16th and 17th, 2026, a small number of refurbished units were also offered, which has helped to stabilize availability.

Eventually, the rest of the world will likely experience this too, as the price of gadgets and electronics has been slowly increasing lately.

Whether Valve will change the price of the Steam Deck is still uncertain. While they can’t directly control the factors affecting cost, the initial excitement for the Steam Machine was lessened by early issues with RAM availability – a problem quickly nicknamed “RAMageddon” – because many people were hoping for a reasonably priced combination of PC and console.

Okay, so I’m a little worried! If the Steam Deck gets more expensive and we’re still dealing with all the shipping issues, that could really price a lot of us out. Valve probably doesn’t want to upset gamers even more, but honestly, it’s just my guess what they’ll do.

The Steam Deck might get more expensive because the cost of its parts is rising. If the value of those parts is higher than the price of the entire device, people could buy up Steam Decks just to take them apart and resell the components, making it even harder for regular customers to get one.

I’m a little worried this situation might impact when the Steam Deck 2 comes out and how much it will cost. But honestly, most people think Valve wasn’t planning on releasing a new Deck until at least 2028, so a delay wouldn’t be as huge a deal as, say, the PS6 being pushed back to 2029. It’s still something to keep an eye on, but it feels less catastrophic for the Deck than it would be for the PlayStation.

The industry is expected to face significant challenges in the coming years, and even major companies like Valve and Sony won’t be able to escape the negative effects of the current issues.

Authors

Cole LukeFreelance Writer

Cole Luke is a freelance journalist and video creator who works with TopMob Gaming. His work also appears on websites like Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, and Network N.

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2026-02-17 18:39