{"id":997,"date":"2026-05-28T07:06:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=997"},"modified":"2026-05-28T07:06:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:06:46","slug":"steam-deck-price-hike-end-of-handheld-gaming-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=997","title":{"rendered":"The golden age of handheld gaming is already over"},"content":{"rendered":"


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For a few glorious years, a $399 portable gadget could run almost anything you\u2019d want to play. In 2022, the Steam Deck finally made PC gaming portable and<\/em> affordable. I played through the vast majority of Elden Ring<\/em> on a Steam Deck, agape that such a rich world could comfortably fit between my two hands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Today, that Steam Deck experience starts at $789<\/a> \u2014 nearly double the price.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Similarly, a Nintendo Switch cost $299 at launch \u2014 but after Nintendo\u2019s Switch 2 upgrades and \u201cchanges in market conditions,\u201d the starting price of today\u2019s Nintendo handheld gaming experience will soon be $499<\/a>, more than a disc-less PS5 cost at launch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You might say so what: doesn\u2019t everything cost more right now?<\/em> Welcome to RAMageddon<\/a>, tariffs, and rising oil prices<\/a> due to Trump\u2019s war on Iran. And I can\u2019t fully blame Nintendo or Valve. Heck, I credit them for being among the last to raise prices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cConsole gaming is continuing its slow and steady march towards becoming a niche, luxury good,\u201d my colleague Andrew Webster wrote earlier this month<\/a>, pointing out how both Sony and Microsoft have hiked prices multiple times and that Nintendo was one of the last holdouts. (He also wrote how everything about buying games is getting more confusing and expensive<\/a> \u2014 and remember when game consoles used to go down in price instead of up<\/a>?)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Meanwhile, desktop PC gamers are beginning to worry their hobby may never be affordable again, now that RAM and storage prices have skyrocketed and every chipmaker is chasing AI servers. (Nvidia isn\u2019t even officially a gaming company<\/a> anymore.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But handhelds hit different. They were supposed to be the affordable alternative to consoles and PCs, and I can\u2019t help feeling sad they had such a short time in the full sun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There wasn\u2019t even enough time for a true Valve or Nintendo competitor to emerge \u2014 no other manufacturer ever meaningfully challenged them on price, ceding the market accordingly<\/a>. When Microsoft finally woke up to the Steam Deck\u2019s threat of pushing Windows gamers toward Linux, it did so at $1,000 instead of $400,<\/a> pricing the Xbox Ally X like a PC instead of a console.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At $789 rather than $399, the Steam Deck may no longer be a threat to Microsoft\u2019s dominance over Windows gaming. For those with the spare cash, it makes a $1,000 Microsoft \/ Asus Xbox Ally X actually look good, considering how much more power<\/a> you get at that price and how Microsoft keeps plugging away<\/a> at fixing its flaws.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Every other handheld gaming PC worth its salt costs even more than that now: the Lenovo Legion Go S is nearly double its launch price<\/a> at a staggering $1,579.99, the Legion Go 2 costs nearly $2,000<\/a> with the same chip as the Xbox Ally X, and leaked retail listings suggest <\/a>Intel\u2019s new handheld platform won\u2019t be much cheaper. The MSI Claw 8 AI Plus<\/a> has gone from $1,000 to $1,299 (though I still see it on sale for \u201conly\u201d $1,099<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At these prices in today\u2019s world, we\u2019re just not talking about the same kind of product anymore. It\u2019s no longer \u201cyou can afford to try a handheld and experience the joy of gaming everywhere.\u201d It\u2019s \u201cyou probably have to choose a handheld instead of something else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That kind of zero-sum thinking may impact the value of these handhelds in other ways, too \u2014 one of the joys of the Steam Deck was how it made PlayStation\u2019s biggest games portable<\/a>, but Sony reportedly won\u2019t bring its big single-player games to PC anymore<\/a>. It\u2019s taking that ball and going home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When I bought my Steam Deck in 2022, I wasn\u2019t sure it would pay off, that I would truly become a handheld gamer again. I already had a perfectly good homebuilt PC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But I didn\u2019t need to be sure. It only cost $400. That\u2019s not pocket change \u2014 but it\u2019s not rent money, either. I know I wouldn\u2019t have bought a $1,000 handheld back then. I\u2019m torn on whether I would now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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