I wonder if we'll see a Steam Controller 2 announced in the next year or so, building on Valve's experience from the first one and the Deck; maybe with both real joysticks and touchpads, or something.

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QuoteIt might not be Game Pass on Steam (yet?), but who had any of that on their bingo card? I sure didn't.

Hey, I did! But I also got "Steve Ballmer buys a Steam Deck", so probably no bingo for me this year.

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Yeah, I suppose that's true. We'll just have to hope Valve releases such information, or someone leaks it or something.

Personally, I guess I'm basing my impression that they're not making money on the lower tier units from the fact that all three SKUs are identical in performance; the only differences are the SSD and the etched glass on the high-end model (and technically the included case, but from what I've seen of it—while nice—it can't be costing them more than a few bucks extra). But it surely can't cost them an extra $150 dollars to go from 64 to 256 GB and then another $150 to go from 256 to 512 GB, right? Like, there's no way the rest of the system costs, say $350 dollars, then the 64 GB SSD costs $50 and the 256 SSD costs $200, right?* (Admittedly, it's hard to guess how much the etched glass screen costs compared to the default.) So it seems to me that the price differences must be from something other than the pure cost of parts, and to me the most logical explanation is that they're actually making money on just the high-end (or maybe the middle-tier) models, and losing it on the low-end ones as a loss-leader (betting that they'll make up the price difference in Steam sales). I dunno, I could be completely off-base with this assessment. That's just how it seems to me.

*Unless that's how SSD prices actually are at that form factor; it has been years since I last bought one.

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Quoting: Eike

Quoting: PhiladelphusBut hey, show me a list of components that produce a device with the same features and specs as the Steam Deck and which cost less than $400 and I'll believe it.

... but volume discount has been around—as in, documented that people and companies have done this exact thing—for millennia.

True, I neglected that fact. But since it has been around so long, presumably we could look at history to make some sort of educated guess, right? Like, if I can put together a list of components that matches the Steam Deck for $500, is it reasonable to suppose that Valve have managed to shave >20% off the price to get it below $400? Or is the problem that there are so many components going into the Deck (all with their own independent economies-of-scale) that it's just impossible to make any sort of informed estimate about what Valve might (or might not) be able to achieve?

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Quoting: pete910

Quoting: TheSHEEEP

Quoting: setzer22Valve is selling the deck at a loss because they can afford it,

I honestly doubt that.
This isn't a console that can make up for selling at a loss with absurd stuff like costs-to-play-online or generally overpriced games.
Nor is it going to bring it tons of new customers - I'd bet that 99% of buyers are Steam customers anyway.

Nail meet hammer...

My thoughts exactly, Not at all convinced the likes of M$/Sony sell them at a loss either.

Until any company release actual BOM of the devices it's all pure speculation/rumor.

Not sure why that's such an incredible claim, the concept of a loss leader has been around—as in, documented that people and companies have done this exact thing—for at least half a century.

But hey, show me a list of components that produce a device with the same features and specs as the Steam Deck and which cost less than $400 and I'll believe it.

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"So you can now install Windows 10, and pretty soon Windows 11. Then you cannnn…do Windows stuff!" got a chuckle out of me.

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Quoting: GuestYeah you are deffo missing something. Looks like you're oversimplifying it, It's not as simple as just reporting it, you need to be able to proove it and youtube do a thorough investigation into the claim.

Ah, ok, thanks. It's not the same as a DMCA strike then. I wasn't oversimplifying on purpose.

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I kinda hope Valve comes up with some cute lock screen unlock system that isn't just a PIN—don't get me wrong, obviously that's good to have, and it probably should have shipped with a lock screen, but imagine if you had, like, a Portal-themed version of the "swipe these 9 dots" type of unlocking mechanism or something. "Turn the gyroscope to navigate a ball through this invisible 3D maze you design", I dunno. Something to take advantage of the form factor.

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Quoting: Guest

Quoting: Liam DaweAnother YouTuber got in touch, they've also issued a takedown request.

Nice one. All they need is 3 takedown requests within 90 days (they can all be from the same creator too) and GPD lose their whole youtube channel forever.

Really? Huh. That seems…abusable. Like, could I get LTT (say) taken down just by filing 3 takedown requests? Clearly there's some context or nuance I'm missing here.

Quoting: TheSHEEEP

Quoting: setzer22Valve is selling the deck at a loss because they can afford it,

I honestly doubt that.
This isn't a console that can make up for selling at a loss with absurd stuff like costs-to-play-online or generally overpriced games.
Nor is it going to bring it tons of new customers - I'd bet that 99% of buyers are Steam customers anyway.

Maybe not the high end versions, but I'd be highly surprised if they're making much if anything on the 64 GB model. Anyone putting down a few hundred dollars on a Deck is almost certainly going to generate far more in game sales over the next few years than any lost revenue on the Deck sale*. They don't need new customers, per se; existing ones willing to buy more games (i.e., the majority of existing Steam users) are plenty. I guess you could make the argument that people would likely buy those games even without a Deck (for their existing systems), but it's also possible people buy games they wouldn't have, especially if they're buying the Deck to replace a low-spec laptop or something.

*I've probably spent over a hundred dollars on Steam each year for the last several years (e.g., in 2020 I picked up roughly one new game or DLC a month, and even though I tend to go for cheaper games that's probably $10-$20 each). And I've got a comparatively small library of less than 150 games because I'm very picky.

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Hopefully by the time I get my email in Q3 there'll be a ton of cool plugins to choose from!

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