this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2025
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Current consoles (playstation, Xbox etc) are heavily subsidized on the hardware side.
Umm...okay.
Not sure why that's relevant...?
It's likely the same for the Steam Deck. Valve might produce them at a loss, because sales on Steam outweigh the initial low / negative margin.
Now think about it. You have heavily subsidized hardware because you control the market on which games can be purchased.
Now take that control away. What happens most likely?
Not likely. The Steam Deck represents a tiny fraction of their user base. Totally different business model.
And they're obviously banking on continued brand loyalty; they're just opening up the system a bit (finally!). But it's a pretty safe bet somebody who buys an Xbox branded machine is still likely to spend a lot in the Xbox store.