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.
on_en_a_gros Apr 7
Quoting: pete910Quoting: ElamanOpiskelijaGPD
????
No clue to what you are referring too.
A mini pc / handheld, a power beast but with high price.
https://www.gpd.hk/product
Quoting: pete910????https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/04/gpd-are-getting-quite-desperate-against-the-steam-deck/
No clue to what you are referring too.
Quoting: CruelAngelI would like to add one other thing that makes the Deck a bit nieche besides the above listed: Its size.I don't think that's an issue really. Every article I've ever seen discuss that, the person concludes that because of the ergonomics it's actually really easy to hold and use, more so than the Switch.
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: StoneColdSpiderNotably, not in China as I recall.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....
Clearly it could be selling more--it lacks retail channels and is available in a limited chunk of the world. With worldwide distribution and sales through Amazon and maybe appropriate big retail stores, you'd figure it could at least triple those numbers. Valve is probably not able or willing to go that big, but I think it's likely they will continue to expand their sales channels for it somewhat, gradually adding more areas, maybe another regional partner or two, and so on. So it's plausible sales will continue to accelerate in 2023 to at least 50% more than the report's predicted rate.
ElectricPrism Apr 7
QuoteSo 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.
Soo true. The Gaming Media Apparatus bread and butter for a long time has been the big 3.
After seeing the headlines Q4 2015 go after Valve for "not staying in their lane" -- it's sad Vultures and Predators will exploit Transparency to increase website traffic and clicks.
The 2 rules to success are: 1. Not always sharing everything you know.
Good on Valve, they've done a spectacular job so far and I'm sure will carve out their niche well as they already have.
It feels like a time for celebration.
considering the limited distribution its doing well, but considering the value proposition, its not very good.
"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. "
sure, but i dont think every nintendo switch gamer didnt had an 3DS or other platform prior to purchasing an switch, and laptops/pcs cant replace an handheld device (not that pc gamers would know this anyway, many of then just care about graphics and would never purchase an handheld that is weak compared to their mainrig anyway)
i mean, they have the big relases (elden ring etc) so quality is not the issue.
they have tons of games, more than any console ever had, so quantity is not the issue.
but maybe they barely can produce enough units to meet the current demand, so there is no point in inscreasing the demand with marketing?
Quoting: elmapulbut maybe they barely can produce enough units to meet the current demand, so there is no point in increasing the demand with marketing?The recent Steam Sale that had 10% off the Deck caused a big run on the UK 64GB model, so much so that it not only went out of stock in the final few days of the sale, but it has remained out of stock ever since then! So, yes, it does look like - for that model in the UK at least - they aren't making enough Decks to meet demand...
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