Steam Deck Price Point Was “Critical,” Says Gabe Newell, And “Painful”

By now, you’ve no doubt heard about the PC handheld coming from Valve, the Steam Deck. The surprise system looks to take PC gaming on the go with your full Steam library, as well as the ability to do quite a lot more such as even customizing the OS to your likening. It is an interesting device, and one that’s gotten lots of people talking. One talking point has been the price point, which is more affordable than one may have expected. One of the men behind Valve shared some insight about that.

In a preview of what is to be a longform interview with IGN, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell spoke about the device. As you can see below, he focused on the price and called it “critical” to have an affordable price point. He said the team approached it less in terms of how much software must be sold to offset hardware cost, and more about whether people will gravitate to Steam Deck due to its quality and high-end status to create an new arm in the ongoing ecosystem. He also referred to the price point as a “painful” one and said they were being “very aggressive” with the three price tiers being offered of $399.99, $529.99 and $649.99.

The Steam Deck is set to release in December 2021 with preorders opening soon. You can also read about the system’s full specs through here.