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Pemalite on 10 June 2025
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Conina said:
Pemalite said:

Keep in mind:
1) It's not subsidized. Every unit is profitable and a high price.
2) Has competition from the Legion Go, MSI Claw and Rog Ally which all run the same games library.
3) Has zero advertising.
4) Didn't get released in some regions until YEARS after it's original debut. (I.E. 2 years for Australia).

I think it's done better than expected all told.

Yeah, but it wasn't a threat to Switch 1 sales and it won't be a threat to Switch 2 sales.

Worst case scenario for Nintendo is ~10 million less hardware sales due to PC handhelds.

The Steam Deck was clearly the better deal for over 3 years compared to the Switch 1.

And currently the Steam Deck is still the better deal compared to the Switch 2... over 99.9% of the shared library (multiplatform games, that are also available as PC version and as Switch version) run better on the Steam Deck. Because a PC handheld ain't dependant on nextgen patches which unlock higher settings to use the full performance of a new device. 

But most handheld gamers doesn't seem to want a PC handheld, they want a Nintendo handheld.

People buy a Nintendo console for many reasons... But they never buy it for class leading graphics or performance.

The Steamdeck was about the best graphics hardware you could get in a handheld. (At the time.) - Whilst also establishing and building a software ecosytem. (Steam OS)
And that's the long term plan, to build an ecosystem that locks people in and feed them Steam games that Valve gets a 30% stake on.

But we need to remember that there has been zero advertising for the Steamdeck, it's 100% word of mouth. -There is also zero retail visibility.. Which is unlike the Xbox, Playstation and Switch which is in thousands of retail stores around the globe.
And that is purposeful, if you are a PC gamer, you know about the Steamdeck. - But the Steamdeck isn't meant to sell 100~ million consoles, it was designed as a platform to develop SteamOS which will get adopted by PC manufacturers who will do the hard work with the hardware.

I don't expect PC handhelds to erode Nintendo -at all- PC gamers are PC gamers, usually we can afford to feed our habit so have no issue buying multiple devices, so with that... We will either buy a Switch 2 or we don't... And the existence of PC handhelds won't change that.

zorg1000 said:
Pemalite said:

Keep in mind:
1) It's not subsidized. Every unit is profitable and a high price.
2) Has competition from the Legion Go, MSI Claw and Rog Ally which all run the same games library.
3) Has zero advertising.
4) Didn't get released in some regions until YEARS after it's original debut. (I.E. 2 years for Australia).

I think it's done better than expected all told.

For sure, I don’t think it’s a failure by any means but “massively successful” is quite a stretch. There’s a large grey area between those two sides of the spectrum that it falls in.


It's massively successful in the sense it was a great platform to launch SteamOS which will then be taken by hardware manufacturers and impregnate hundreds of new gaming devices that will deliver Steam games in the future that valve gets a 30% profit cut on.

Imagine a hacked Switch 2 running SteamOS in the future? The possibility is there.

Valves strength has always been software, not hardware... I think people forget that.




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