- Nearly three years after it launched in the US, the Steam Deck will officially begin shipping to Australia in November.
- The Steam Deck is Valve’s first handheld console, which offers the performance of a gaming PC in the palm of your hand.
- It supports major gaming releases like Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, and Cyberpunk 2077.
Forget the PlayStation 5 Pro, the biggest gaming console release of 2024 is about to hit Australian shores very soon. Announced during last week’s PAX Australia, after years of speculation (and some pleading), Valve’s Steam Deck will officially be available domestically in November.
The original Steam Deck launched in the United States back in February 2022, before the OLED version was rolled out in November the following year. Valve mentioned bringing the handheld console to Australia during a developer’s conference back in November 2021. Better late than never, I suppose.
RELATED: Here’s Everything We Know About The Nintendo Switch 2
If this is the first time you’ve heard about the Steam Deck: it’s a handheld console created by Valve, the owners of the online storefront Steam and developers behind popular series like Half-Life, Portal and Counter-Strike. In short, it aims to put the power of a gaming PC into the palm of your hand.
This thing is no slouch when it comes to performance, either — Valve has a list of verified games, including big-name releases like Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, and Cyberpunk 2077. Granted, those games might not run as well as they would on a standard gaming PC, but the convenience of being able to play them on the go can’t be understated.
If you want to get into the nitty gritty specs, the standard Steam Deck has a 7-inch LCD screen with a battery life of two to eight hours (depending on what you’re playing). The OLED version has a 7.4-inch HDR OLED display with a battery life of three to 12 hours. Both versions run off a 4-core AMD Zen 2 CPU and an AMD RDNA 2 GPU, with 16GB LPDDR5 RAM.
While this is the “official” launch of the Steam Deck in Australia, the handheld console has been available for purchase here through online retailers like Amazon, Catch, or Kogan. Sold through third-party sellers on these sites, although these “grey imports” aren’t technically illegal, they do present a bit of a conundrum when it comes to consumer rights — particularly with the terms and conditions of the manufacturer’s warranty.
Now that Valve is selling the Steam Deck here, you won’t have to worry about any potential consumer rights headaches. Even better, the official prices for the console are cheaper than these grey imports.
RELATED: PlayStation Celebrates 30th Anniversary With Limited-Edition Retro PS5 Bundles
How Much Will The Steam Deck Cost In Australia?
- Steam Deck (256GB): $649
- Steam Deack OLED (512GB): $899
- Steam Deack OLED (1TB): $1,049
When Will The Steam Deck Be Released In Australia?
The Steam Deck will officially begin shipping in November 2024 — though there’s no exact date for when.
You can take a closer look at the various Steam Deck specs and wishlist it here. Whether Valve’s handheld will be officially stocked through other retailers or remain exclusive to Steam remains to be seen.
