When Valve announced the Steam Deck back in 2021, it attached an attractive $399 price tag to the handheld gaming device"s starting configuration. While this edition has gone through some changes since then, like upgrading the 64GB storage from eMMC to 256GB of NVMe, the price has remained the same. However, Valve is finally letting go of this cheapest model.
When heading over to the Steam Deck portal on the Steam store, users will be able to see a new message populating the page. "We are no longer producing the Steam Deck LCD 256GB model," reads the official note from Valve. "Once sold out, it will no longer be available."
At least in the U.S., that selling-out warning comes a little late, as the $399 model has been displaying the "Out of stock" message for some time. Valve says it will still continue support for the LCD model going forward, and that refurbished LCD models (which are also currently out of stock) may still be offered in the future.
The LCD model also received a discount recently that dropped the price to $320, which was possibly a measure to finish off the remaining stock of devices at Valve warehouses.
This end of production means that the $549 512GB OLED Steam Deck has now become the entry model. As its name suggests, this model has a 7.4-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, an upgrade over the original 7-inch 60Hz LCD panel. Other upgrades on the OLED model include a 50 Whr battery and Wi-Fi 6E support. Valve also offers a $649 OLED model touting a 1TB pre-installed drive as its highest-end hardware outside of special editions.
Don"t forget that Valve has more hardware incoming to join the Steam Deck too. This includes the Steam Frame virtual reality headset, a new edition of its Steam Controller, as well as the Steam Machine, the company"s answer to a plug-and-play console-like experience for the living room.