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Steam Deck sales reportedly plunged by 80 per cent following price hike
Full Steam behind.
Valve
- Alex Raisbeck
Published: Thursday, 23 July 2026 at 11:26 am
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The RAMpocalypse has taken no prisoners, and according to recent analysis, the Steam Deck could be one of the biggest losers from the fiasco.
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With the bottomless pit of AI continuing to eat up ever more computing power, the rising price of components has impacted anyone and everyone with an interest in gaming hardware, from PlayStation and Xbox to, of course, Valve.
The impact on Valve was made especially clear earlier this year when it increased the price of the Steam Deck by around $300.
With the main appeal of the Deck having been its affordability, and with a much smaller jump to more powerful handhelds like the ROG Xbox Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go 2, it was not hard to predict that sales would fall, but according to a report from Boiling Steam, that fall may be more aptly described as a crash.
Prior to the price hike, the Steam Deck sat comfortably in the top five of Steam's Top Sellers List, occasionally dropping out but always climbing back up.
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Since the price rise, however, the Steam Deck has plummeted from its regular top five spot to as low as 14th over the past two weeks.
With the spots on the list being allocated based on Steam's revenue calculations, Boiling Steam estimates that this fall could represent as much as an 82 per cent fall in weekly revenue.
Translated into sales, this would mean going from between 11-18 thousand in 2025 to between 1.4-3 thousand in July 2026.
While only recently released, players had similarly negative reactions to the price of the Steam Machine when it was announced prior to launch.
Valve confirmed that they had been forced to increase the price of the hardware by about the same amount as the Steam Deck, and that it was originally slated to retail for a much more affordable price.
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that the RAMpocalypse is coming to an end anytime soon – in fact, it looks like it's only going to get worse.
If you still want to get your hands on a handheld gaming PC, then the best time was six months ago.
And while it might not seem that way in the moment, the second-best time is now, because these things are only going to get more and more expensive from here on out.
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Authors
Alex RaisbeckGaming writer
Alex Raisbeck is a Gaming Writer at Radio Times, covering everything from AAA giants to indie gems. Alex has written for VideoGamer, GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, PCGamesN and more.
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