I love games industry drama. There's nothing quite as hilarious as billionaire CEOs acting like kids on the playground, dishing out sly insults and gunning for each other. Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Fortnite developer Epic Games, is the latest offender, taking to social media to aim a not-so-subtle jab in the direction of Valve's Gabe Newell following this week's Steam Deck OLED price hike.
In a post on X, Sweeney said, "Everyone's being too harsh here. There has been a significant rise in the cost of components that Steam customer spending ultimately funds, and economic trends have created severe disruptions in the component parts supply chain for megayachts." If you don't know, Gabe Newell owns a megayacht, complete with a gaming lounge and basketball court, so that very last bit in the quote is clearly a dig at Valve's chief.
A lot of X users have been keen to point out that this online sass is a bit rich coming from Sweeney on the back of recent mass layoffs. The consensus is that the over 40% Steam Deck OLED price increase is frustrating. Still, it makes sense given the ongoing issues around component pricing, particularly RAM, and clearly, some consumers think it's a better option than internal redundancies. Besides, Valve isn't alone in raising prices. Some of the best Steam Deck alternatives have also been getting more expensive or facing availability issues in recent months, including the Lenovo Legion Go 2.
Speaking of availability, the Steam Deck OLED still seems very much in demand, with the latest restock selling out in the US in under 24 hours. Considering the cheaper 512GB model is now $789, it goes to show that there are plenty willing to pay more for what I still think is one of the best handheld consoles on the market. However, I am a bit concerned about what all this could mean for the price of the Steam Machine or the likelihood of the Steam Deck 2 arriving anytime soon.
At the time of writing, Newell hasn't clapped back at Sweeney. In fairness, he doesn't really need to, as those commenting under the Epic Games CEO's original post have covered that for him, attributing the whole thing to jealousy and the popularity of Steam compared to the Epic Games Launcher. Still, if Sweeney's previous beefs are anything to go by - this is the man who's spent the last few years taking on and subtweeting Apple - this new drama might not be over just yet.