Steam Deck sales crash by 80% after Valve's latest price hikes

The Steam Deck has been one of the most popular handheld gaming consoles over the past few years. Although other handhelds do exist and the market is growing rapidly, the Steam Deck is arguably the most crucial proponent of handheld PC gaming going mainstream.

Well, that was until Valve jacked up the prices in late May 2026. Originally, the Steam Deck cost around $549 for the 512GB OLED model, while the 1TB model was sitting at $649. In one fell swoop, Valve implemented a ~45% price increase, pushing the 512GB model to $789, and the 1TB model to an eye-watering $949. The initial Steam Deck price was already a tad high, but these new prices were too difficult to stomach.

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It turns out Valve did not get away with its price increase, despite its reasoning being solid. Boiling Steam estimated Steam Deck sales by extrapolating Valve's Top Sellers chart data, and it looks like there has been a monumental decline in Steam Deck sales following the price hikes. The analysis states that the Steam Deck slipped from 5th place in the Top Sellers list all the way down to 14th, a drop that can represent a sales decline of a whopping 82% in weekly figures.

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The underlying data seems to suggest that the Steam Deck was selling around 11,000 - 18,000 units per week before the price hike, and then sharply dropped to only 1,400- 3,000 units in July 2026. The chart for this drop is almost comical. On the financial side, the sharp decline in sales definitely translates to lower revenue for Valve, despite the Steam Deck's higher price. Educated estimates suggest that the Steam Deck could be bringing around 70% less revenue now than before the price hikes.

Now, it must be noted that these are not official sales or revenue figures from Valve. In fact, these figures are part of an analysis which uses Steam's weekly revenue rankings, assumed revenue ranges, and even estimates a split between the different Steam Deck variants. While the projections are quite clever, there is still lots of room for error since there are no official Valve numbers backing these statements.

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Regardless, it does paint a clear picture of how the Steam Deck seems to have lost its steam. It went from generating around $6 million to $10 million in weekly revenue to barely crossing $2 million after the price hike. The Steam Deck has recovered slightly in recent weeks, climbing from 16th position to 9th position for the week that just ended, which may indicate that sales may be improving in the coming weeks.

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How much did Valve raise Steam Deck prices in May 2026 and which models were affected?

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What estimated weekly unit sales did Boiling Steam attribute to the Steam Deck before and after the price hike?

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Question #3

What is the estimated change in weekly revenue for the Steam Deck after Valve's price hikes?

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How reliable are the sales and revenue figures cited in this analysis?

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Does this affect Steam's long-term hardware projects? I don't necessarily think so. The numbers look absolutely hideous on paper, and Valve has had a torrid time with the RAMpocalypse lately (as has everyone else), but I think the company has enough in the tank to keep pushing through. We will most likely see a Steam Deck 2, and maybe a Steam Machine 2 in the future.