It looks like the Steam Deck will remain out of stock for the foreseeable future, despite Valve saying it is working hard to resolve the problem. The popular handheld is still available in a select number of places, but it remains out of stock in major regions such as the United States and, now, the United Kingdom (which managed to hold stock for a little while longer).

Valve has been redirecting its hardware efforts elsewhere, such as the release of the Steam Controller coming on May 4. However, the upcoming launch of the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will be the biggest resource sinks due to being fitted with memory and storage, both of which are currently scarce, particularly RAM. These shortages will be eating into the Steam Deck supply.

RAM shortages continue to affect Valve hardware, including the Steam Deck

In a recent interview with IGN, SteamOS and hardware dev Pierre-Loup Griffais discussed the current Steam Deck situation. Although he says Valve doesn’t “really have any specific details to share” about when stock will return, it is something that is being actively worked on. “It’s something that we’re working very hard on,” says Griffais.

He says that “there’s a lot of considerations right now with respect to shipping being difficult,” along with the memory shortages. Speaking further on the RAM shortages, Griffais says Valve is “trying to make sure to keep options open and to work with as many different manufacturers” as possible to help alleviate the issue.

So 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.

Pierre-Loup Griffais, Valve

Griffais notes that there was “a similar condition during the COVID times,” referring to microcontroller shortages at the time. He says that Valve managed to navigate that issue by using “different types of microcontroller,” adding that “we expect to be navigating the memory thing the same way”.

In terms of the memory capacity in Steam hardware, the Steam Deck is fitted with 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, the Steam Frame requires 16GB LPDDR5X RAM, and the Steam Machine will take the bulk of supply with 16GB DDR5 RAM and 8GB GDDR6 VRAM for its integrated graphics solution (an AMD RDNA 3 GPU).

Valve even said the controller managed to launch earlier than the other new hardware simply because it “doesn’t have RAM in it” – and while the plan may have seemed to be releasing the trio all the at the same time, it didn’t turn out this way. A developer at the company recently revealed that a simultaneous release “wasn’t really ever the plan,” as long as the controller shipped first.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.