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Valve announced a huge price hike on Steam Deck OLED handhelds overnight, with prices increasing by close to 50 percent in Australia. The 512GB Steam Deck OLED is now AU$1,199, up from AU$899, while the Steam 1TB Steam Deck OLED is now AU$1,429, up from AU$1,049.
So yeah: the 512GB model is now more expensive than the 1TB model was last week. Welcome to the future!
Here are the increases in handy table form:
Model | Old price | New price |
|---|---|---|
Steam Deck LCD | AU$649 | n/a |
Steam Deck OLED 512GB | AU$899 | AU$1,199 |
Steam Deck OLED 1TB | AU$1,049 | AU$1,429 |
What stands out above is that the Steam Deck LCD model hasn't suffered a price hike. There's a reason for that: they're no longer in production. What Valve has at hand is what remains from when they were still being manufactured, long before the AI boom eviscerated (among other things) the consumer technology world.
In most of the world the inexpensive Steam Deck LCD is out of stock. My colleagues in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom can't buy them. In other words, Australia is in a fairly unique position, in the sense that there's still a relatively inexpensive way to buy a Steam Deck in 2026.
I'm not sure how much stock remains in Valve's Australia-based warehouse, but if you want it, go forth. Be aware that the battery capacity isn't as great, the OLED has marginal performance boosts and, obviously, it has an LCD display.
"Steam Deck itself hasn't changed," Valve wrote in its announcement. "These new prices reflect the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges across the industry as a whole. We’ll keep you updated if anything changes."
Andy Chalk reported on the wider reasons for Steam Deck's price hike, but you can in large part blame it on the ongoing (and likely to get worse) run on components by the AI industry.
These price hikes – which are hitting other consoles like the PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2, as well as most crucial PC components – paint a less-than-promising picture of Steam Machine's launch timing. It's a bleak time to be in the market for a gaming system, but there are some rare silver linings. Last year's ASUS Rog Xbox Ally can be had for only AU$799 at the moment.
