A Valve developer has recently commented on the ongoing Steam Deck situation, where supply shortages are rampant and preventing players from getting new ones. Presumably, the upcoming release of the Steam Machine and Steam Frame could worsen the situation because of the ongoing RAM crisis.
As many gamers know, there is a global shortage of computer memory (RAM), especially DDR5, because of the explosive growth of AI. Huge AI data centers are being built the world over and require massive amounts of high-speed memory, so chip makers have been prioritizing that over consumer RAM, shrinking the supply for everyday user hardware and pushing prices way up. Right now, it’s uncertain when the RAM crisis will come to an end, but it has had an impact on gaming for sure, beyond the Steam Deck at that.
Steam Deck Gets New Update
As April comes to a close, Valve releases a new update for the Steam Deck, bringing several handy new features to the handheld.
While SteamOS and Valve hardware developer Pierre-Loup Graiffais recently discussed the Steam Deck 2 and the upcoming Steam Controller in a recent interview with IGN, he also commented on the current stock issues. Unfortunately, it’s not really good news. He explained that there’s nothing specific to share, but said that “it’s something we’re working very hard on.” He also compared it to the microcontroller shortages of COVID, which saw Valve rely on using “different types of microcontroller.”
GameRant Quiz
Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)
Griffais expects to navigate memory the same way, also adding that there’s a “lot of considerations right now with respect to shipping being difficult,” too. Overall, Griffais said,
“From the get-go, we’ve been trying to make sure that we have many options there, and that’s been proving really useful in this kind of climate because we can work with all the big players and some of the smaller ones as well. That being said, the conditions around memory are pretty global right now, so there’s only so much that we can do.”
Steam Hardware RAM Requirements (For Additional Context)
- Steam Deck: 16GB LPDDR5 RAM,
- Steam Frame: 16GB LPDDR5X RAM
- Steam Machine: 16GB DDR5 RAM and 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
As of this writing, the Steam Machine does not yet have a firm release date, although it is confirmed for 2026 and believed to release in the first half of the year. That time is obviously running out, but Valve is reportedly focused on logistics for getting the hardware out there despite shortages. The upcoming release of the Steam Controller on May 4 is a promising sign, at least.
Drag weapons to fill the grid
Drag weapons to fill the grid
EasyMediumHard
The Steam Frame is obviously in a similar boat to the Steam Machine, with the upcoming VR headset releasing sometime in 2026, but not with a firm date quite yet. It succeeds the Valve Index and is capable of running both VR and non-VR games via SteamOS. Unlike the Valve Index, the Steam Frame will not need a PC tether or external “lighthouse” base station, representing an improvement over its predecessor. But with all this new hardware comes the need for a lot of memory, and as long as there is a Steam Deck supply shortage, fans can expect there to be similar shortages for this new hardware, too.
- Brand
-
Steam (Valve)
- Original Release Date
-
February 25, 2022
- Original MSRP (USD)
-
$399–$649
- Operating System
-
SteamOS 3 (Arch-based)
- Processor
-
Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
- Resolution
-
1200 x 800
