Steam Deck respawns after months out of stock - but the price tag is a final boss

Valve has finally hit the respawn button on the Steam Deck, bringing the beloved handheld back into stock after going dark for months. The catch? According to Ars Technica, the four-year-old device is rocking a price tag that feels less "legacy hardware" and more "current-gen launch day robbery."

For a piece of kit that's been out since 2022, you'd expect the price to have done what most aging hardware does - take a nosedive into bargain bin territory. Instead, the Steam Deck has apparently leveled up its cost, which is giving fans serious pause before hitting that "add to cart" button.

Should you still buy in?

Here's the thing though - even at an eyebrow-raising price, the Steam Deck still has a serious argument for itself. It runs a massive library of PC games, it's got years of software polish behind it, and Valve has kept the ecosystem humming along nicely. That's not nothing in a handheld market that's getting increasingly crowded.

The real question is whether you're better off saving your gold coins for something newer. The handheld gaming space has exploded since the Deck first dropped, with competitors like the ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go muscling in on the action. Valve's own SteamOS is now spreading to third-party devices, which makes the original Deck feel a little less like the only ticket to portable PC gaming paradise.

The loot drop you didn't ask for

Coming back into stock after a long absence is usually a cause for celebration - like when your favorite game finally goes on sale after sitting in your wishlist for three years. But Valve seems to have missed the memo that returning from a hiatus should come with some kind of welcome-back discount, not a price hike that makes you do a double-take.

If you've been patiently grinding while waiting for restocks, this might feel like farming a rare drop only to find out the stats got nerfed. Ars Technica's report frames it bluntly: it's back, but you probably won't like what you see. Whether that stops dedicated fans from grabbing one anyway is another question entirely - Valve loyalists have never been accused of being rational about their purchases.

Check out the full breakdown over at Ars Technica before you decide to commit your IRL currency to this particular quest.