Valve has announced the release of a brand-new Steam Deck OLED model, and it’s gorgeous. The downside: it’s only on sale for a short time. And there are limited quantities available. And it’s the most expensive Steam Deck to date.
On November 12, Valve unveiled the Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White. Launching on November 18, the new Deck has the exact specs of the existing Steam Deck OLED with 1 TB of built-in storage. The difference is — well, just look at the thing. Rather than the standard Steam Deck’s all-black design, the new edition is a white console with gray face buttons and a red power button. It looks sick as hell, frankly, calling to mind the aesthetics of Valve’s Portal series. The new Steam Deck also includes a limited-edition white carrying case and cleaning cloth.
If you don’t already have a Steam Deck and have been thinking about snagging one, the new white edition is a tempting prospect. On the other hand, it will also set you back a little more than the standard console. The 1 TB Steam Deck OLED is already pretty pricey, at $649, and the white edition tacks a few bucks to the price tag, bringing it to $679.
Arguably, the bigger problem is its exclusivity. As Valve notes, the new console is limited to a small but undisclosed number, and once it’s out of stock, no more will be made. That means that if you want to get your hands on the pretty new piece of hardware, you have exactly one chance to do so. And since quantities are limited, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to buy one even if you wait in the digital queue on launch day.
Still, if you’re planning to buy a Steam Deck OLED anyway, it makes sense to try your luck with the limited edition. For folks who already own a Steam Deck, though, the new release may not be so exciting. By their very nature, limited editions like this are designed to prey on the fear of missing out. Even if you’re not totally sure you want this more expensive version of the Steam Deck, or you’re not quite ready to fork over nearly $700 for it, you may be tempted to do so since you know you’ll never get the chance again. And since the white Steam Deck OLED is only available in a 1 TB version, you could even be persuaded to shell out the extra cash even if one with a smaller hard drive makes more sense for your budget.
Valve is far from the worst company when it comes to limited edition consoles. Sony and Microsoft make them, too, but Nintendo makes the biggest habit of it. There are already limited editions of the Switch commemorating Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda, Splatoon, and Animal Crossing (I still wish I’d gotten one of those), and it’s all but guaranteed that we’ll see heaps of new versions after the Switch 2 launches.
But Valve’s embrace of limited edition hardware looks worse in light of recent comments from a spokesperson. In October, Valve designer Lawrence Yang revealed that the company wouldn’t be releasing yearly hardware updates, arguing that “that’s not really fair to your customers to come out with something so soon that’s only incrementally better.”
These are definitely separate issues, since buying the white Steam Deck OLED doesn’t get you an actual performance boost, but it’s hard to see its release as embracing that idea of fairness. Valve knows that the new version of its console will attract attention, and it knows that its limited nature is going to push people who may not be ready to make such a big purchase to buy it anyway. At least with hardware revisions, everyone who buys a console afterward will get the best version of it available. That’s a far cry from limited edition hardware, like the new Steam Deck, which will forever remain a collector’s item in the hands of relatively few. I love the idea of releasing consoles in different colors and styles, but dropping a new version out of the blue means early adopters made their purchases without knowledge that another option would be available, and anyone without a spare $679 lying around will miss this opportunity, too. That seems unfair to me.
