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It’s silly to compare Switch 2 sales to Steam Deck sales.

The Switch 2 is a locked-down, vertically integrated platform. There are no ROG Switch 2s. No Lenovo Switch 2s. No Switch laptops or tower PCs with discrete GPUs. If you want to play Mario Kart World, your only option is to buy a Switch 2. Period.

Steam Deck, by contrast, isn’t a platform. It’s just one hardware option—one entry point into the sprawling, open ecosystem known as PC gaming.

Every year, around 245 million PCs are shipped globally. If even 20–25% of those are gaming-focused, that’s 49–61 million gaming PCs annually. Steam Deck is a sliver of that. So of course it won’t outsell a console that’s the only gateway to a major IP.

But that’s exactly the point.

PC gaming is too decentralized for any single device to dominate. The last “PC” that did was the Commodore 64, which sold 12.5–17 million units over 12 years because it was a self-contained platform, unlike modern Windows, Mac, or Linux machines.

That the Steam Deck has sold 4 million units despite competing with every other gaming PC in existence is remarkable. It didn’t just sell—it legitimized a category. Handheld PC gaming is now a thing. That’s why Lenovo, ASUS, and MSI have followed. Even Microsoft is getting in, optimizing Windows for handhelds—something they would never have done if the Steam Deck didn't hold their feet to the fire.

So no, Steam Deck didn’t outsell the Switch 2. It didn’t need to.

It won by changing the landscape.

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[-] Shardikprime@lemmy.world 20 points 6 days ago

The funniest thing is that Nintendo buyers are not even part of this conversation LMAO 🤣

[-] thisisnotmyhat@programming.dev 6 points 6 days ago

In a sense, this is also the point. They are different devices targeting different markets.

[-] Luckaneer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 6 days ago

I loved my steam deck, but it was too chunky for me and certainly for my kid.

My compromise is Anbernic type devices. Long battery life, better form factor, lots of ported games too.

[-] joel_feila@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

There is a reason why i call all these handheld gaming pcs as decks or gaming decks.

[-] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

...ok? Cool you're here on Lemmy, I guess, GabeN. Welcome!

[-] doomcanoe@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago

Tim Sweeny! Is that you!?

[-] Ulrich@feddit.org 2 points 6 days ago

It's very likely that the Switch 2 will far outsell all other PC handhelds combined. And that is very much a loss. Not just to Valve, not just to PC gamers, but to everyone.

[-] edg@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

You must lived an incredibly charmed and comfortable life.

[-] Ulrich@feddit.org 1 points 6 days ago

...well that's an interesting (bad) presumption.

[-] edg@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Did I miss a sarcasm tag, or are you seriously this histrionic about the biggest and one of the oldest names in video games outselling a niche product? Because it doesn't matter to almost anyone, even Valve. Multiple things/people can find success at the same time. It's not zero sum.

[-] Ulrich@feddit.org 1 points 6 days ago

I honestly don't even know what you're trying to say.

[-] DriftingLynx@piefed.ca 82 points 1 week ago

Has either company "lost" anything? They both seems to be raking in money quite healthily.

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[-] Scotty_Trees@lemmy.world 57 points 1 week ago

I'll emulate Nintendo games till the day I die because fuck Nintendo and their greed.

[-] Denjin@lemmings.world 2 points 5 days ago

It's always morally acceptable to pirate Nintendo games.

[-] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 24 points 1 week ago

I won't even pirate their games

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[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 46 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

What I like about the deck is I bought it and I instantly already owned >1000 games for it where a good majority of those are playable out of the box.

So ya, I ain't paying $120 CAD per game. Fuck that.

Also my controllers basically all work for it so I don't need to buy these overpriced joycons again for a new system.

Already have webcams if I cared for a silly camera that streams at 2FPS.

It's unfortunate that theres been a lot more attention for optimization from some developers for the switch 2 though, not much we can do about that. Some games I own the deck is screaming and barely handling it and apparently the switch 2 runs it no problem.

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[-] Stovetop@lemmy.world 35 points 1 week ago

Console wars stopped being cool years ago. Everyone has their preferences and favorites, no need to shit on someone's fun because you think yours is better.

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Its unfair to call it a "console war" when one is a classic locked down console and another is a general handheld computer. This also means there are bigger societal stakes in this argument than just "which corporate flavor you like more" because one empowers people and the other does the exact opposite.

So no, "console wars" here are very much cool.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 7 points 6 days ago

Competition is good. If the Switch didn't exist then I don't think we would've gotten the Steam Deck.

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

If the Switch didn't exist then I don't think we would've gotten the Steam Deck.

or we would have earlier and more of it? I'm not sure how are you basing your hipothesis is but to assume that handheld market with this crazy demand would just be there unfulfilled is kinda silly. Switch didn't event some magic technology that was not available before - it just took the market.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 5 points 6 days ago

You're contradicting yourself. If you believe the Steam Deck exists purely independently from the Switch and that we would've had the Steam Deck before the Switch if the Switch never existed, but we didn't, it came after.

And no, I don't think it invented some sort of magic technology, obviously I don't think that. I'm saying the Steam Deck was good competition for the Switch in the portable/docked market (whatever we wanna call those).

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Correlation vs causation much? Not sure what to tell you.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 5 days ago

You're saying if we didn't have the Switch we would've had the Steam Deck earlier but you're also saying the Steam Deck is something totally independent of the Switch. But if it was totally independent, why do you think it would've come earlier if the Switch didn't exist? That's why I'm saying you're contradicting yourself.

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

I said it might have come earlier. You fundamentally don't understand correlation vs causation and getting angry with me dude. Seriously go read a book or something this is silly.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 5 days ago

You did not say might you said it would.

[-] GeneralEmergency@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

PC G*mers aren't known for being with the times.

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[-] Buske@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago

Steam Deck is the winner, They don't even advertise.

[-] D06M4@lemmy.zip 27 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I've generally seen purchasing a Steam Deck as an informed decision. But most people are very nostalgic (can't blame them, SNES to Wii Zeldas and Metroids were amazing) and have uncontrollable FOMO, which Nintendo keeps on milking even when their software and hardware is noticeably much worse than it's competitors'. If anyone also wants to know how Nintendo currently uses the money they earn, here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n025Gxn5GEM No wonder they're less worried about wasting money on legal battles. No trace of the good old Nintendo.

  • For Nintendo fans that may get triggered by this, don't. Just own it. Spending more on something worse doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.
[-] Garzak@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

This is such a wild take. « I buy the steam deck because I am informed and smart, they buy the switch 2 because they’re nostalgic impulsive morons ».

Has it ever occurred to you that not everybody is you, and people have different tastes ? Some gamers want to play the latest COD, others are Final Fantasy super fan, and others want to play Zelda and Mario. Most people even just play on a smartphone! (Disgusting, I know).

Your lack of basic awareness of what an individual is is astonishing. May I never meet and have to talk to someone like you again.

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[-] jordanlund@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago

There are millions upon millions of Mario, Link, and Pokemon fans.

There are not millions and millions of... what's the killer Steam Deck game again? Oh, right, there isn't one.

If Valve came out with Half Life 3, made it Steam exclusive and a pack in with the Deck, then it would start putting up Nintendo numbers.

[-] PrimeErective@startrek.website 82 points 1 week ago

You're right, the best part of PC gaming is that it's always inclusive, never exclusive. Thanks for the reminder

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this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025
392 points (100.0% liked)

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