A new report from Omdia currently doing the rounds is that the Steam Deck from Valve is set to hit 3 million sales during 2023.
We already knew it had hit at least 1 million in 2022, when a KDE developer gave away the figure but Valve actually hasn't talked about the sales figures yet. It's easy to see why Valve aren't announcing any figures — but it seems others will do it for them anyway like this. The report estimates Valve hit about 1.6 million during 2022 and will ship 1.9 million in 2023.
So why don't Valve give out any figures themselves? Valve has always been pretty tight-lipped about details, and this is really no different to their normal operation. They don't need to give out figures either, they're a private company and don't have anyone to please but their own pockets. If they did release regular figures, can you imagine the wider headlines from the major gaming press (and likely other media too)? No doubt it would be instantly talked down like a failure because it's not hitting the levels of the Switch or Xbox.
As we know, it doesn't need to shift multiple millions per month for Valve, since it's part of a single ecosystem where they continue to print money with their 30% cut of Steam games. It doesn't really help though that it's sold in very limited places (mostly via Steam or Komodo), with the only actual retail presence recently announced in Asia and even there it's limited. So when you think it's shifting this many with no traditional retail store presence outside of the previous link talking about a few Asian regions, and still only being available in select countries officially worldwide, it's doing well overall.
Realistically speaking, the Steam Deck is a niche device, especially considering a lot of people using Steam would already have a PC or Laptop to play their games. That said, it does seem to be hitting above its weight, as Valve devs noted over around 42% of people buying one ended up spending the majority of their gaming time with it. Plus, with a Steam Deck 2 likely years away, there's no reason to hold off on picking one up now if you want to play PC games on the go that it enables.
What are your thoughts?
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
BlackBloodRum Apr 7, 2023
Bearing in mind this is a device that is based on Linux. Consider that many Windows gamers are straight up dead set against Linux. Now also consider that this isn't something that most PC gamers would initially think or see reason to buy, that is a good chunk of them are quite content with their desktop gaming setup.
Finally, it's only possible to buy via Steam itself, where realistically only those types of people live. Thus a lot of console gamers may never see it.
Even if we were to say that every Linux user who was already using Steam prior to the decks release were to buy the Deck, even then number of units sold is still larger than the previous Linux user base. Thus ruling out the idea that "well only Linux users bought it" and clearly a good chunk of previously non-Linux gamers purchased it.
So all these things put together.. that's a pretty damn respectable number of units sold!
CruelAngel Apr 7, 2023
The deck is huge and heavy. So while you can use it as a handheld its not really comparable to the handhelds of 1-2 generations ago where they were akin to mobile phones in size, you could just slip in your pocket and maybe play a bit even while commuting in a crowded vehicle. (To be fair the switch too is also large, but the deck is even larger)
StoneColdSpider Apr 7, 2023
Quoting: BlackBloodRumThree million units may not sound like a lot compared to console numbers. But personally I think that's a respectable number.Even more respectable when you realise that its not available in all countries either....
Admittedly, more and more single households and the devaluation of the TV set / living room as a central family gathering place has opened up a market for handhelds like the Deck and the Switch (although the Switch Lite is again targeted at children mostly), but it is still a very limited market, similar to VR gaming hardware.
I am glad that Valve has remained Valve until today and has not gone the way of Blizzard and others. But when distributing a console, it is not only the product that is decisive, but also the retail trade. For this, you have to pre-produce large quantities, advertise them and put them on the market where they may then lie for months. Around the world. Customers can also simply order the Steam Deck from Amazon or wherever else they like.
Whether Valve will be able to establish such a distribution network remains questionable, as this will presumably require billions in investment. Nintendo and others get this money from the shareholders. Valve simply has to earn this money (first).
The question is also whether they want to turn such a big wheel at all. Three million is already a big challenge for an owner-managed company like Valve. Warranties, repairs, customer enquiries, support, etc. are all tied up in that.
If Valve were organised differently, they could sell many times more. Even notorious console players are very positive about the Deck when they get their hands on one.
Last edited by 1xok on 7 April 2023 at 11:08 am UTC
Quoting: CruelAngelI would like to add one other thing that makes the Deck a bit nieche besides the above listed: Its size.This may not be as much of an issue as it appears - handhelds have been skewing towards being bigger for a few generations now, and if I'm remembering right (though I admit it has been a while), the best-selling iterations of several of Nintendo's handhelds were the "LL"/"XL" versions, when available. This even got to the point where the standard-sized version of the New 3DS revision of the Nintendo 3DS skipped the company's biggest market of North America altogether.
The deck is huge and heavy. So while you can use it as a handheld its not really comparable to the handhelds of 1-2 generations ago where they were akin to mobile phones in size, you could just slip in your pocket and maybe play a bit even while commuting in a crowded vehicle. (To be fair the switch too is also large, but the deck is even larger)
Quoting: PenglingQuoting: CruelAngelI would like to add one other thing that makes the Deck a bit nieche besides the above listed: Its size.This may not be as much of an issue as it appears - handhelds have been skewing towards being bigger for a few generations now, and if I'm remembering right (though I admit it has been a while), the best-selling iterations of several of Nintendo's handhelds were the "LL"/"XL" versions, when available. This even got to the point where the standard-sized version of the New 3DS revision of the Nintendo 3DS skipped the company's biggest market of North America altogether.
The deck is huge and heavy. So while you can use it as a handheld its not really comparable to the handhelds of 1-2 generations ago where they were akin to mobile phones in size, you could just slip in your pocket and maybe play a bit even while commuting in a crowded vehicle. (To be fair the switch too is also large, but the deck is even larger)
The Atari Lynx wasn't much smaller than the Deck, and it had a tiny screen. But I guess that was more than 1-2 generations ago.
ElamanOpiskelija Apr 7, 2023
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