The great RAMaggedon of 2026 might have just claimed the Steam Deck
Less than a week after Valve admitted that the current shortage (and rising prices) of RAM was affecting its hardware plans, the Steam Deck is completely sold out. The Steam Deck has gone in and out of stock in the past, but as Kotaku Note, the timing raises the question of whether Valve’s RAM issues could also impact its Linux handheld.
The 256GB Steam Deck LCD and the 512GB and 1TB Steam Deck OLED models are completely sold out on Steam. Valve has announced that it is discontinuing LCD versions of its handheld and selling off its remaining inventory in December 2025, so the fact that the 256GB Steam Deck model is currently sold out is not surprising. The fact that both OLED versions are also not available at the same time is, however, a little more unusual.
Engadget has contacted Valve for more information on the availability of the Steam Deck. We will update this article if we receive a response.
When Valve announced the Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Frame, the company notably left out pricing and availability, likely because pricing and access to RAM left those details in flux. The company’s announcement last week that memory and storage shortages had pushed back its plans and would likely impact pricing more or less confirmed this. At no point did Valve mention that the Steam Deck would be similarly affected, but perhaps it should have.
The rising cost of RAM has already forced other PC manufacturers to adjust the prices of their computers. Framework announced in January that it was increasing the price of its Framework Desktop up to $460. Some analysts speculate that the memory shortage caused by the AI industry could lead to higher prices or even an economic downturn across the PC industry. Ideally, the Steam Deck being out of stock is a temporary problem rather than a sign that Valve is doing something drastic. However, if things continue as they are, changes to the Steam Deck are unlikely to be ruled out.
