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Death of Gaming: Just like any other company dealing in hardware products built from off-the-shelf components, Valve is facing some truly difficult choices when it comes to pricing. The company tried to fend off the chip shortage caused by the AI boom with a massive price increase, but potential customers apparently responded by removing themselves from the buying equation.
A recent report by Boiling Steam might confirm what most enthusiasts have always suspected: an overpriced Steam Deck is never going to sell well. In fact, Valve's handheld machine might have already suffered a disastrous drop in sales. Despite the price hike, Valve is earning far less money than it did before.
Boiling Steam used the same methodology it employed to estimate Steam Machine sales, tracking data points from Steam's own global list of best-selling games and products. The outlet compared the Steam Deck's ranking throughout 2025, when it was often listed fairly high on the sales chart. Things changed in 2026, when Valve decided to retire the older – and cheaper – LCD models and offer only the OLED models at a significantly higher price.
