Credit: Valve
The Steam Deck gaming console is no longer available on Valve’s online store, not just in the US. The shortage has become global.
If you visit the company’s website in Europe, the US, Canada, or Japan, the console is nowhere to be found. The reason is the same: memory shortage.
Steam Deck availability was limited in the US and parts of Asia in the first half of February, after which Valve was forced to acknowledge the limited availability of RAM and solid-state memory for the consoles. Canada and Europe have joined the list of regions where Steam Deck is difficult to find. According to Tom’s Hardware, the console is currently available in Australia, the UK, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea.
However, the limited availability was also impacted by the discontinuation of the most affordable Steam Deck model with an LCD display. Some retailers of the OLED version in Asia expect the Steam Deck to return to stores by the end of this month. The memory shortage not only forces electronics manufacturers to raise prices for their own products, it also prevents them from supplying enough to satisfy demand.
The problem is that the memory situation itself isn’t going to get better anytime soon, and Valve is still preparing to release the Steam Machine, so it’s unclear whether the Steam Deck will even be back on sale anytime soon.