Stories final week that the Steam Deck is bought out in the US prompted hypothesis ranging sober by means of to outlandish, however the precise cause is straightforward and you’ve got possible already guessed it: like the remainder of the video games business, Valve has been hit by the reminiscence disaster.
“Steam Deck OLED could also be out-of-stock intermittently in some areas on account of reminiscence and storage shortages,” Valve now acknowledges on the Steam Deck retailer web page, confirming that the hand held’s shortage will be blamed on the identical phenomenon that has delayed the Steam Machine, jacked up RAM and SSD costs, and threatens to shutter “many electronics producers“.
Even the likes of Sony and Nintendo are being hit exhausting: Sony is contemplating pushing again its next-gen console till so far as 2029, whereas Nintendo is contemplating a value improve on the Nintendo Change 2.
At time of writing, all Steam Deck OLED fashions stay accessible within the UK and Australia.
Whereas the Steam Machine continues to be on monitor to launch within the first half of 2026, Valve hoped to announce a value and firmer launch date by now. “However the reminiscence and storage shortages you have possible heard about throughout the business have quickly elevated since then,” Valve wrote final week. “The restricted availability and rising costs of those important parts imply we should revisit our actual transport schedule and pricing (particularly round Steam Machine and Steam Body).”
The disaster has every part to do with the AI business’s grasping demand for reminiscence, so subsequent time you are watching a Gemini-generated reel a few big Norwegian Forest Cat consuming reside cartoon tuna whereas razing Manhattan you may know who responsible. To grasp the disaster in full element, Jacob Fox’s RAM scarcity explainer is a superb useful resource.
