Valve unveils a limited edition white Steam Deck: release date, price and what makes it different

Valve has announced a new Steam Deck handheld PC version, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all upgrade for every gamer.

It will be available on Monday, November 18 and is mostly white, instead of the usual all-black style.

The face buttons and controls are gray, while the power button offers a pop of color: orange.

However, the white Steam Deck isn’t necessarily an attractive upgrade for existing Steam Deck fans. It is not a functional upgrade over the standard OLED model, released in November 2023.

“Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White has the same specs as the Steam Deck OLED 1TB model, but in white and gray,” says Valve.

Either way, it may also sell out quickly as Valve says it’s a true limited edition product.

“This model will only be available in limited quantities, with inventory distributed proportionally across each region,” Valve says.

“As this is a limited edition release, we will not be making more of this specific design. Once we sell out, we sell out.”

White Steam Deck Release Date

The Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White will go on sale on the Steam Store on November 18 at 11pm UK time, priced at £599. This is £30 more than the standard black version. It includes a white casing that matches the colors of the console.

Why release a new model that isn’t as powerful as the standard Steam Deck OLED from a year ago, which only slightly outperforms the original LCD version from 2022?

One caveat is that Valve wants to capitalize on the pre-Christmas shopper. Another theory is that the Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White is a side effect of exploratory materials engineering work Valve put into the Steam Deck 2.

Changing the color of the product is trickier than it sounds, as differences in the feel, finish, durability and strength of the plastic require testing.

Recently, Valve also confirmed its intention not to release a truly upgraded Steam Deck anytime soon.

“We’re not going to do a bump every year. There’s no reason to do that. And honestly, from our perspective, it’s not really fair to your customers to come out so quickly with something that just gets incrementally better,” said Lawrence Yang of the Steam Deck design team. Reviews.org.

Steam Deck is considered a great success, even though users make up only 0.74 percent of players on the Steam platform, according to the October 2024 report. Steam Hardware Research.