Gabe Newell: Switch-like steam surface in pricing valve was ‘painful’

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© Valve

In case you missed it, Valve’s rumored “switch-like” handheld Steam Deck has been officially revealed.

While the US company best known for its digital PC gaming platform hasn’t made any comparisons to the Nintendo hybrid itself, it’s hard to ignore some of the similarities and the fact that the price point is only $50 more than the recently announced Switch OLED.

During a conversation with IGN, Valve President Gabe Newell mentioned how important it was to find a balance between performance and pricing when designing the Steam Deck. While performance was the top priority, unfortunately, the trade-off was what Newell refers to as a “painful” price point:

“I want to pick this up and say, Oh, everything works. Everything is fast. Everything… and then the price point was secondary and painful. But that was clearly a very important aspect.”

In a hands-on video, IGN compared the technology inside the system inside the “ballpark” of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 – while showing games like Control and Death Stranding working on it. Admittedly, it’s light years ahead of the Switch in terms of the kind of games you’ll be able to play, yet it’s only $50 more than the OLED model.

If Valve gets it right, Newell thinks this new machine — which the company describes as a “mini-computer” that can even support windows — could sell millions of units:

“So our point is, if we do it right, we’re going to sell those millions of units.”

Just yesterday, Bloomberg released a report claiming Switch OLED upgrades are costing Nintendo about $10 more per unit.

What are your thoughts on Steam Deck’s $399 / £349 starting price compared to Nintendo Switch pricing? Do you think Nintendo has anything to worry about? Leave your thoughts below.

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