Yesterday, Valve revealed an OLED iteration of its Steam Deck handheld. More Steam Deck 1.5 than Steam Deck 2, the new Deck intends to further increase the momentum of the 2022 system, which has been a very strong seller for the Half-Life creator.
While talking to The Verge, designers Pierre Loup-Griffais and Lawrence Yang revealed the original Steam Deck has sold “multiple millions” of copies. The pair didn’t disclose specific numbers, but that was hardly needed: throughout 2022, Valve kept boasting about its increased production rate and reservation numbers.
Steam Deck success
Valve previously tried its hand at game hardware before with the Steam Machine and Steam Controller. Both of those didn’t last long for their own respective reasons, but the momentum of the Steam Deck shot up almost instantly. The company’s own popularity and a PC equivalent to the Nintendo Switch couldn’t really be ignored.
In the near two years since the Steam Deck’s launch, Valve has gradually worked to meet the rising demand for the handheld. Not only did it set up official repair centers and allow for refurbished Decks to be sold, it also expanded sale territories to include Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea.
Earlier in the year, Omdia analyst James McWhirler hypothesized the Steam Deck could sell 3 million units by the end of 2023. Even if Valve doesn’t give hard numbers, it’s likely the launch of the OLED Deck will help surpass that milestone when all is said and done.
And the growing success of the first Steam Deck gives the eventual successor nowhere to go but up, now that the OLED has shown the system’s battery life and Wi-Fi can be improved.