Valve’s cheapest Steam Deck model just got cheaper. The Steam Deck LCD 256GB will be 80 percent off for Black Friday 2025, making it somehow $20 less than the portable gaming console that Nintendo released back in 2017.
Normally $400, Valve’s three-year-old PC gaming handheld will be 20 percent off through December 1, making it just $320 to pick up compared to a new Switch after Nintendo raised the prices earlier this year over tariffs. It’s also $100 less than a Switch 2, which runs games like Cyberpunk 2077 better, but doesn’t have access to Steam’s ever-growing library of new weekly indie hits like this year’s Megabonk.
Valve also ran this promotion for the LCD Steam Deck ahead of the Autumn Steam Sale back in September, suggesting to me that it’s looking to clear out stock as it focuses production on the superior but more expensive OLED models. The Steam Deck is out matched on specs by more recent PC gaming handhelds like the Rog Xbox Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go 2 but still offers the most bang for your buck.
It might struggle with some newer high-end blockbusters, but even games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows can run surprisingly well. Plus, Steam remains the day-one launch pad for Early Access games and all of the big hits from Vampire Survivors to Balatro.
The Steam Deck 2 is still just vaporware
As for a Steam Deck successor, well, it doesn’t sound like Valve is planning on launching one anytime soon. “We’re really interested to work on what’s next for Steam Deck…the thing we’re making sure of is that it’s a worthwhile enough performance upgrade to make sense as a standalone product,” Valve software engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais told IGN earlier this month.
That echoed comments he made back in 2023 tempering expectations of a hardware revision anytime soon. “I don’t anticipate such a leap to be possible in the next couple of years, but we’re still closely monitoring innovations in architectures and fabrication processes to see where things are going there,” he said.
Sounds like nothing’s changed. The current Steam Deck should be Valve’s default at least for a couple more years.
