The Steam Deck is finally officially launching in Australia

Two and a half years ago, Valve took the gaming world by storm when it announced and immediately released the Steam Deck, a Linux-based portable gaming PC that was heavily inspired by the Nintendo Switch. It was an immediate success, but it had a big problem: availability. Although the Deck was available in North America and Europe at launch, the rest of the world had to wait. Asia gained access at the end of 2022 and now it’s finally Australia’s turn.

PAX Australia kicked off today, and as the convention’s doors opened, Valve dropped a bombshell: the Steam Deck is officially coming to the lands below. This comes more than two years after the handheld launched in other regions, and long after many other portable gaming PCs have hit the market.

Steam Deck orders will begin in Australia in mid-November and will ship immediately, according to Valve on Twitterwith three models available at surprisingly reasonable prices for technology in the country. The 256GB LCD model will be available for $649, the 512GB OLED model will cost $899, while the 1TB OLED model will cost $1,049. These are basically 1:1 conversions of the US price with sales tax included, and notably much cheaper than every other handheld on the market except the Switch.

The Steam Deck has been available in Australia for at least a year now, with gray imports making up the entire stock in the country. However, there have been problems with this, including substantial markups and a lack of consumer support and protection, something that will hopefully be resolved with an official presence.

No retailer presence has been revealed as of yet, with the expectation that, like other regions, it will be sold exclusively through Steam in the near future. Unfortunately, New Zealand will not be included in the launch – perhaps next year.

Us I loved the OLED Steam Deck when we tested it shortly after its release, with Kirk calling it the best console he had ever owned:

The Steam Deck OLED is a revelation. It changed the way I play PC games, despite having a high-end PC connected directly to a large OLED TV. It’s great to relax on the couch and not have to worry about any problems associated with PC gaming. Just download games and play while sitting comfortably – that’s what it’s all about, and the OLED Deck is the best way to do it.