Can you provide a source for most steam users having hardware better than PS5? Not saying you're wrong, I just hadn't heard that. Regardless, gaming on PC doesn't necessarily make someone an enthusiast; there are plenty of casual players too. Some of the most popular PC games at the moment are stuff like Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox, The Sims, etc.

Steam Deck is too expensive and has too many barriers to entry to achieve mainstream success, but it has its niche. AAA ports to Switch like Witcher 3, Skyrim, and Hogwarts Legacy have sold decently.

Phone gamers it seems couldn't care less.

I'm interested in a PC portable via Cloud saves when I travel, but the fidelity drop is too much. I'm waiting to see what the Deck 2 brings to the table.

I'm not really talking mainstream success but a handheld that basically has every single thirdparty game on it and is basically a nextgen switch in terms of hardware can't even do 6 million a year, it's certainly tells me the market is very niche for AAA games on handheld.  It's not steam deck is not backed by a huge brand as well in the gaming world steam is massive now.

AAA third party titles are definitely less of a selling point for portables than home consoles; because graphics are necessarily lower on portables than home consoles/desktops, you can't sell on eye candy. There seems to be a sustainable market for AAA ports on Switch, they're just more of a nice extra than the main draw of the system, kind of like indies on home console.

Sorry, but that's wrong according to the Steam survey data (which has its flaws, f.e. most RDNA3 data is still missing).

Approximately one third of the Steam players have more powerful hardware than a PS5... which is impressive enough due to a much bigger install base. 1/3 of 200 million PC gamers would be ~67 million PCs with more powerful hardware than the 58.5 million PS5s

When it comes to PC hardware "in the ballpark" of PS5 performance (or better), almost half of the Steam gamers are included... especially in raytracing games where Nvidia is much stronger than AMD (PS5).

1/2 of 200 million PC gamers would be ~100 million PCs with similar or better hardware than the 58.5 million PS5s.

Steam Deck doesn't have all AAA games on a handheld. Some are incompatible, many are only playable with a lot of compromises (sub-native resolutions, low fps, tiny text and interface elements...)

Steam Deck is too expensive? You can buy the entry model (64 GB) for €314, taxes and shipping included.

The (sold out) refurbished ones were even cheaper, on eBay you can get used models for €200 - €250.

And the Steam Deck doesn't have most barriers of PC gaming. People who manage to set up an account in the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store or Xbox Marketplace will also succeed in setting up a Steam account and log in. Buying digital games on Steam is as easy as on consoles. Gifting games on Steam is much easier.

Stick to the selection of over 5,000 Steam games which are verified, you will have a great experience. With most of the over 10,000 Steam games with "playable" status, you will also have a good experience... in many cases the flaws are benign, f.e. entering a player name via touchscreen keyboard while the rest of the game supports the sticks and buttons).

If you want to get the most out of the hardware (f.e. other PC launchers, console emulation), it gets a bit trickier... but that's totally optional.

I'm not saying it's out of reach or not worth it, just that to the casual consumer it's not as easily accessible as either the Switch or their phone. It's an enthusiast device, and that's okay.

Sad to hear.

I completely forgot the games were on there to be honest.

Its crazy how these companies have so many legacy titles from years ago that they could port over and sell, shame that they wont try and at least build up a userbase that way.

Still cant believe Square Enix hasnt released FFX and beyond despite iOS having more FF games than any other platform prior to PS4/Switch/XBO generation.

Well phones can't run triple AAA games

Well not really surprised because I do not really use my iphone as a high end "gaming" device. Instead I use it to play a slot game with my mom.

I mean technically they can, modern phones and tablets are significantly more powerful than the Switch which itself has a lot of AAA ports. The experience will of course be worse than a dedicated home console, but the games in question do run.

The issue is more that nobody really cares.