If you've been waiting for the right time to pick up a Steam Deck OLED, we've got some bad news. As of the time of writing, both versions of Valve's handheld gaming PC are out of stock via the brand's official site in both the US and Canada. While stock remains in most other regions, it's a surprising turn of events from the US-based gaming giant.
Following its launch in 2023, the Steam Deck OLED has remained a top pick in our guide to the best handheld consoles, thanks to its reliable performance, easy-to-use SteamOS software, and massive library of verified games. It's also remained relatively affordable, within the wider context of the handheld market, thanks to the $649 1TB version offering the same amount of storage as the likes of the ROG Xbox Ally X and the MSI Claw 8 AI+ for a significantly lower price point.
There's some speculation that these stock issues could point towards the discontinuation of the Steam Deck OLED, but it seems unlikely. Only last year, we saw some data suggesting that Valve's handheld is still massively outselling all of the available Steam Deck alternatives, including the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally. Others think that this could be a sign of the Steam Deck 2 rearing its head, but that seems even more doubtful, considering that Valve is currently concentrating its marketing efforts on confirmed upcoming products, including the Steam Machine.
At the time of writing, Valve hasn't offered any official update on the Steam Deck OLED's stock issues. That makes potential discontinuation claims even more dubious, as when the company discontinued the 256GB LCD model last year, it uploaded a disclaimer detailing the end of production. Still, given the ongoing RAM crisis, anything is possible, so we'll keep a close eye on Steam Deck OLED stock going forward, just in case this really is the end.
You can still pick up the Steam Deck OLED from some third-party retailers in the US, but you're going to be spending more. While researching for this article, the cheapest I could find the 1TB model for on Amazon is $748.95, which is just shy of over $100 more expensive than Valve has been selling it for. It wouldn't be a surprise to see those prices soar on the back of Valve's stock issues, but we'll have to wait and see.