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Valve’s Steam Deck, a constant prime performer on Steam’s weekly top-sellers listing, has seen a pointy drop in gross sales that coincidentally adopted the announcement of the Nintendo Swap 2.
Since its launch in February 2022, the Steam Deck has been widespread in handheld gaming. It combines the ability of a compact PC with portability, filling a niche in an area that was principally dominated by the much less highly effective however cheaper Nintendo Swap. The discharge of the Steam Deck OLED helped broaden its attraction, cementing its spot in Steam’s prime 10 gross sales rankings week after week.
Regardless of its success, Valve has been clear {that a} successor, the Steam Deck 2, isn’t deliberate for a number of extra years. Nevertheless, this technique may change following the official unveiling of the Nintendo Swap 2.
Earlier than the Nintendo Swap 2 announcement on January 16, 2025, the Steam Deck ranked third within the international Steam gross sales (by way of Twisted Voxel) rankings throughout the week of January 7. However the week throughout the Swap 2 announcement, January 14–19, the Steam Deck noticed a pointy drop in gross sales, plummeting to forty seventh place—a major decline for a product that normally dominates the leaderboard. Regardless of recovering to fourth place this week, final week’s decline highlighted a shift in client consideration and anticipation.
A number of causes might clarify this sudden drop. January is normally a difficult month financially for many individuals. On prime of that, the announcement of a rival handheld from an especially widespread firm recognized for exclusives might have had a big effect.
Although the precise specs and value of the Nintendo Swap 2 stay unknown, rumors recommend it could function a display bigger than the Steam Deck and have a aggressive value level of $400, which might current a giant problem to Valve’s inexpensive handheld PC.
Nevertheless, it might not be sufficient to get Valve to hurry up with a next-generation Steam Deck. Again in October 2024, Valve’s workforce stated they wouldn’t launch new variations of the Steam Deck yearly, explaining {that a} new mannequin would solely be launched with vital efficiency enhancements. With Valve’s feedback on SteamOS, and the corporate not wanting to exchange Home windows or another OS, it will make sense that Valve is taking their time and never attempting to compete with anybody.
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