Valve Steams Ahead with Dirt Cheap Refurbished Steam Decks
Valve recently announced a new pilot program designed to bring ultra-low cost gaming PCs to homes and offices—refurbished Steam Decks. Valve is targeting a retail price of $100 USD for these PCs, which will include an Intel Core i3 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a 250 GB hard drive.
The project is part of Valve’s effort to make PC gaming more accessible to everyone, in an effort to counter the rise of consoles. “You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a gaming PC anymore,” said Valve general manager Gabe Newell. “We want to supply gamers with an accessible and high-quality PC gaming experience at a fraction of the cost of current gaming hardware.”
The Steam Decks, which will be pre-loaded with Steam OS, the OS developed by Valve, will be powered by Intel’s Core i3 processor, 4GB DDR3 RAM, and a 250GB hard drive. This hardware will be housed in a compact, 5.3-inch by 8-inch chassis with no monitor or keyboard. All gamers need to do is connect it to their existing hardware.
The pilot program has already seen over 400 pre-ordered Steam Decks, with over 7,000 more waiting on the waitlist. For the initial pilot group, Valve is offering a generous 90-day warranty and free shipping, no matter where they’re located.
Valve is also looking to partner with developers to create more content for their computers. As well, Valve plans to provide access to a library of free titles including their own games like Portal, Team Fortress, and Left 4 Dead.
For gamers who want a cheap gaming PC without sacrificing on quality and performance, Valve’s Steam Decks could be the answer. With a price tag of only $100, Valve’s Steam Decks could revolutionize PC gaming.
