2mo ago

Steam Deck sales still going strong over three years later

www.gamingonlinux.com Steam Deck sales still going strong over three years later

Back in February we hit the three year mark of Valve's Steam Deck with SteamOS Linux, and as we approach the release of the public SteamOS 3 Beta for more devices, here's an updated look at the sales charts.

Gaming @lemmy.zip

www.gamingonlinux.com /2025/05/steam-deck-sales-still-going-strong-over-three-years-later/

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No surprise there. It's backed by a reputable company, built well, supported well, and continues to receive updates that affect not only the handheld itself, but the rest of the linux gaming scene all together. Plus it's an absolute steal for the money.
Other brands had it all written out for them, but they all opted in for a quick buck, with generic bullshit with no understanding of what made the Deck so appealing
- Agreed, the ease of repairs and ability to upgrade the SSD were a huge selling point for me.
- I haven't bought it because previous hardware has been quick to get discontinued or support has stopped (steam machine, steam controller, steam link) and I didn't like that.
  Told myself I'd buy a Steam Deck 2 because that would show long term support, though.
  
  I can't really agree with that assesment of Valves past hardware.
  Steam Machines were DOA, and anyone that actually bought one from one of the manufacturers likely got one that came with windows installed, because valve delayed the controller and software for so long the manufacturers pivoted to putting windows on them to be able to start selling the inventory. That meant very few that actually run SteamOS made it into the wild, most of them getting sold as just console-sized windows PCs.
  And if you still have one, it's just a PC. You can slap Bazzite or Windows on it and it'll work just fine even today.
  Both steam controller and link continue to get software support, and also function to this day. Valve stopped manufacturing and selling them, but support has not stopped.
  No matter how you look at it, buying valve hardware has meant that even as it ages, they make sure it doesn't turn into a brick, or even have its usefulness compromised.
  Same goes for the Deck, Valve couldn't brick the thing if they tried. When you buy one, you will still have what came in the box ten years from now.
  
  Previous hardware mostly immediately flopped. Steam Deck has been seeing regular hardware and software improvements over the last several years.
  If you're waiting for Steam Deck 2, you're most likely going to be waiting a while. Valve doesn't do anything quickly or on a regular basis.
  
  support has stopped (steam machine, steam controller, steam link
  Steam Link is still getting software updates. Steam Controller doesn't get updates anymore afaik, but it did get updates for a long time including firmware updates that added BLE support. Steam input on both the steam deck and in big picture mode still supports it and still allows community sharing of controller profiles.
  In general I think Valve supports their less successful hardware pretty well by industry standards.
  
  Dude, my Steam Link and Steam Controllers are still in active use and get updates to this day. I even have 2 backup Steam Links - at the end they were selling them at 5€ per piece, and since i use it to stream pretty much everything to my TV, i got some in reserve.
  I'm still on the first one, and one of the Controllers is now working with my Steam Deck out of the box.
  I agree (a bit) on the Steam machines, those were pretty much a flop when seen as isolated device - but they laid the groundwork for the Deck.
- The Switch is none of those things and yet still manages to sell 100x more units.
  
  Orange juice is nothing like apple juice, and yet both still sell
  
  The switch has brand recognition, loyalty from decades ago, and ease of use (for the less tech savvy).
  
  It has exclusives iirc, steam deck "just" has the rest.
  The switch also has coop multiplayer and a few other things going for it as well.

I’ll preorder Steamdeck 2 so fast my pants will fly off
- I don't know how to react to this
  
  Proper decorum demands also removing your pants
  
  With the gift of suspenders
- Same, sadly there probably wont be a steamdeck 2 for a while considering valve is working on the deckard, I REALLY hope they announce it sooner rather than later though. I gave my steamdeck to my girlfriend and I'm waiting next gen.
  
  I don’t think a deck 2 is the goal. I think it’s Steam OS. Third parties will be building better hardware and just throwing Steam OS on it. Your Deck 2 will be made by whoever built the hardware configuration you prefer.
  Deckard is probably a means to ensure Steam OS is VR capable as well, which would also liberate PCVR from windows and meta as well.
  
  I’ll preorder the deckard so fast my shirt will fly off
  
  Well, you're probably right, but they could also work on two things at a time, it's not like Valve is a single person...
- I'll order 2, watch me nerd.

It's been 3 years ???? 😱😱
- Dude it feels like a year ago maximum, Jesus.........

I was sceptical on how good it could be when it was first announced. Steam Deck 2 will be day one for me though
- Seems like they're making good on a promise of incremental improvements too. Really happy with that device.
- I'm not gonna lie, I was hyped since the announcement, and the love for this device hasn't died down.
  I'm not a big gamer nor do I play on portable consoles, but the idea of an accessible portable console running a linux distro was amazing to me.
  
  Yeah I preordered for sure

Just got mine in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I love it. I haven't played PC games since I was in high school in the 90's. My son has one, and my girlfriend's grandson has one. We're all connected with family sharing. My daughter is interested in getting one now too.
Side note: Desktop mode is getting me used to Linux and I'm enjoying it. It doesn't seem as intimidating as I imagined.

It doesn’t hurt that a brand new console, the switch 2, will ensure new AAA releases will still be playable on older mobile hardware. It guarantees that the current deck will still be able to chug along with new releases for another 6 or so years.
- Never underestimate the siren song alure of releasing the least optimized UE5 game ever made. Publishers seem to really struggle with that temptation.
  
  I hadn’t thought about that, but you are so correct it hurts.

And I'm just here dreaming about getting one, with no chance of that happening anytime soon (or ever)... :'(

i'm glad at least one company is doing shit right

The main appeal for the deck to me is the ability to run games well on lower wattages. Sure the other options can run games better than the deck but it seems like you want handheld efficiency/battery life over better performance for less battery then the deck is the main choice.

Building quality products to earn money by providing value to customers, what a novel idea!

Just added a 1TB m2 SSD Upgrade in mine

My kids freaking love it, and family sharing is crazy good. I use it on trips. My other two PCs are running Bazzite.

Seriously consider buying another one almost every day and the only thing that is stopping me is lack of free time. Wife and I usually co-op (or just play concurrently) on switch and deck but deck is really making switch redundant.

Steamdeck is great. I love it. On the flip side, I have owned a Switch for a couple years and hate it. I loved SNES so I guess I hate Nintendo Online.
- I think every SNES game ever made fits on a tiny portion of the Steam Deck hard drive, if you can find where you stored your backups.

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