The gaming community is feeling the impact of a global memory shortage as Valve announced significant price hikes for its Steam Deck OLED handheld gaming consoles. The 512GB model now costs $789, a $240 increase, while the 1TB version has jumped $300 to $949. This decision reflects the rising costs of memory and storage components, a challenge faced by the entire gaming hardware industry.

Industry-Wide Impact

Valve is not alone in this predicament. Sony has also raised prices on its PlayStation 5, with the standard disc and digital editions now at $649.99 and the PS5 Pro at $899.99. Microsoft’s Xbox consoles have seen two price increases in 2025, and Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 handheld experienced a dramatic price surge to nearly $2,850 for its top-end configuration. Nintendo’s Switch 2 is set to increase from $449.99 to $499.99 in the United States by September.

Root Causes of ‘RAMageddon’

The term ‘RAMageddon’ has been coined to describe the current crisis, driven by a structural shift in memory chip allocation. Explosive demand from AI data centers, notably with OpenAI reserving a significant portion of global RAM, has exacerbated the situation. According to technology research firm Omdia, mainstream PC memory and storage costs rose between 40% and 70% in 2025, with further increases anticipated. Samsung has already sold out its memory production capacity for the year and predicts worsening shortages by 2027.

Valve has assured customers that the hardware of the Steam Deck remains unchanged despite the price adjustments. Certified refurbished models, including the older LCD version, are still available at lower prices. The company has committed to keeping its customers informed of any further changes.

Original reporting: WQAD (Quad Cities) — read the source article.