Steam issues hopeful update for highly anticipated hardware after RAMpocalypse Steam Machine price woes

Amid the high prices of new hardware like the Steam Machine and Steam Frame, Valve has issued a hopeful update on the Steam Deck 2.

The Steam Deck 2 hasn’t been officially revealed yet, but Valve has spoken previously about its plans for the handheld successor, with 2028 rumoured to be the release window when we could hear more.

But with the ongoing RAM shortages affecting platforms like the Steam Machine and Frame, as well as bringing a massive price hike for the Steam Deck, some fans are convinced that the next handheld could be disrupted as a result.

According to IGN, Valve has now gone on record to say that this won’t be the case, and that plans for the Steam Deck 2 remain uninterrupted by the hardware price hikes.

“Not really,” said Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais. “We've talked before about how we want to make sure there's a very delineated performance improvement for something like a future Steam Deck, and I think we're still looking at it in the same way.

Griffais added that “It's just a matter of looking at the current conditions and seeing how and when we can deliver something like that. But from what we're working on, as far as the user experience goes and what the product that we're trying to build goes, it's very similar goals.”

For Valve, the Steam Deck 2 is a matter of when, not if

For Valve, it sounds like it’s looking to find the right balance where the price of the Steam Deck 2 is worth it for the performance upgrade it brings.

With the Steam Machine, the company had to delay the release numerous times, and also had to make some compromises with the RAM used inside the hardware, and Valve won’t want a repeat of that for the Steam Deck 2.

This does, however, mean that the timeline may have changed somewhat for the Steam Deck 2. Originally, Valve planned to launch the Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame at the same time, but the hardware shortages meant that the company had to delay them throughout 2026.

Moreover, the price of RAM, storage, and graphics cards is not set to stabilise for another few years, with 2030 seen as a safe bet for when things may become affordable and available again.

The global memory supply shortage began in late 2025, beginning with artificial intelligence companies purchasing massive amounts of stock to supply their infrastructure. This was exacerbated by geopolitical trade tensions between the United States and China following the former’s new tariff policies, causing the supply chain to be realigned.

As of September 2026, the hardware market continues to be volatile and unpredictable, and many experts predict that there won’t be any recovery on that front until 2028 at the very earliest, and the 2030s at the latest.