:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23270010/vpavic_220210_5030_0090.jpg "The Steam Deck is on sale for the first time ever")
Sales of Valve’s portable gaming PC have dropped off a bit, and it’s been over a year. Good time for a sale!
It’s been just over a year since Valve launched its Steam Deck portable gaming PC — and it’s just now going on sale.
Until March 23rd at 10AM PT, you can get a Steam Deck for 10 percent off in every region where it’s sold, including Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the US, that translates to $359.10 for 64GB, $476.10 for 256GB, or $584.10 for the 512GB model, before tax, with free shipping.
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Why now, instead of exactly at the one-year mark? It might be that it coincides with Valve’s Spring Sale or that it took some time to put together this Happy Birthday video…
It also might be that sales of the always-improving portable have finally begun to drop.
While the Steam Deck has spent a staggering 37 nonconsecutive weeks atop Steam’s best-seller list, it hasn’t charted at #1 since the release of Hogwarts Legacy in February and has even dipped as low as #9 below games like Sons Of The Forest and paid content for Apex Legends, CS: GO, Destiny 2 and PUBG, which it usually handily beats.
If you’ve been holding off because you heard the Deck was a buggy mess that isn’t compatible with all your games, you might want to take a second look like I did. It became my favorite gadget of 2022. And if you’re convinced and just wondering which model to buy, I’d say the 256GB unless you love to tinker. It’s pretty easy to upgrade the 64GB model with a new SSD, but there are some ways to damage it if you’re not careful.
You may also be wondering: will Valve release a new and upgraded Steam Deck soon that might make this one obsolete? It’s always possible, but the company has repeatedly signaled just the opposite.
Valve also released a new feature for the Steam Deck today: a built-in way to change the startup video that plays when you power on the system. Valve created 20 startup movies of its own that you can buy in the Steam Points Shop, too.
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