Steam Deck stock issues could hit various regions, Valve warns

Following the news that the PS6 could be delayed until 2029, Valve has issued a fresh warning about the Steam Deck stock situation, which could spill over to various regions – so if you're hoping to buy one as a gift for someone, you ought to buy some Steam gift cards quick...

This isn’t the first time that we’ve heard such statements from Valve, as the company recently released a Steam Hardware FAQ which addressed the fact that the price and launch window of the upcoming Steam hardware, the Steam Machine and Steam Frame, is being adjusted owing to the ongoing memory pricing crisis, fuelled by the rapid rollout of new data centres to accommodate AI demands which require a huge amount of storage and memory.

This time, it’s due to all Steam Deck variants being out of stock in the US, with Valve noting that “Steam Deck OLED may be out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages”.

Though the Steam Deck is already out, Valve continues to manufacture them, meaning it is beholden to the market as it is, as it did not order such a large inventory that it could safely sit on it.

Valve was also subject to supply constraints brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic when the Steam Deck first launched, with users having to reserve a Steam Deck and wait in a queue until they could purchase it.

As of writing, the Steam Deck is still in stock in the UK, and there have even been refurbished units available in limited quantities on 16 and 17 February 2026, making the market here a little less volatile.

This is bound to catch up with the rest of the world, however, as the cost of consumer electronics has been steadily rising in recent months.

It remains to be seen if Valve will adjust Steam Deck pricing. Though the situation is out of its hands, the initial hype surrounding the Steam Machine was tempered somewhat by the evolving “RAMageddon” situation, as it has been dubbed, as many were excited by the prospect of a relatively affordable PC-console hybrid.

A double whammy brought about by a potential Steam Deck price hike could prove too much for some, and Valve is probably keen to avoid further ire of gamers, but this is purely speculation.

We could very well see the Steam Deck become more expensive, as if the value of the components exceeds that of the unit; they could be bought by scalpers en masse and stripped for parts, making them even more difficult to acquire.

There is also the real possibility that it could affect the launch and pricing of an upcoming Steam Deck 2, but many speculate that the next-generation handheld from Valve wasn’t due to come out until 2028 at the earliest, meaning a delay wouldn’t be quite the seismic shift a 2029 release date for the PS6 would be.

All said, the industry is in for a rough ride over the next few years, with giants such as Valve and Sony unable to avoid the RAMageddon fallout.

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