Steam Deck Sales At An All Time Low After Switch 2 Announcement

While the slew of leaks spoiled the surprise, the Nintendo Switch 2 announcement was still pretty exciting. The four main takeaways from the reveal were that it’s bigger, features magnetic Joy-Cons, is fully backwards compatible, and has a new Mario Kart game lined up for it. While not part of the reveal it will also be a lot more powerful.

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In The Long Run, The Nintendo Switch 2 Reveal Trailer Isn’t Going To Matter At All

In case anyone needs a reminder, an underwhelming hardware reveal is going to matter a whole lot less than what’s to come.

While everyone was excited about these features, handheld console manufacturers were probably worried about that last part. If we can buy a handheld console that plays Nintendo games and is also powerful enough for triple-A titles, why would we buy anything else? It seems that the effects of the Switch 2 reveal are already starting to show.

Steam Deck Sales Are Plummeting After Nintendo Switch 2 Reveal

As noted by SteamDB creator Pavel Djundik, Steam Deck sales have seen a dramatic fall this week, which coincidentally is around when the Switch 2 was revealed. As you can see in the below charts, the lowest the Steam Deck has fallen since mid-August last year in the global top sellers is seventh, but in the week of the Switch 2 announcement, it fell dramatically to number 47.

As for why the sales numbers of the Steam Deck have plummeted so drastically, we can only speculate that potential buyers thought the Switch 2 is a better investment in terms of a handheld console. With a launch confirmed for 2025, they wouldn’t have to wait too long and will also get the added benefit of playing Nintendo exclusive titles along with other third party triple-A games, thanks to the upgraded specs.

However, while the Switch 2 is planned for a 2025 launch, you might not be able to play too many third party games on it anytime soon. The GDC State of the Game Industry report, stated that only eight percent of developers suggested they were working on games for the Switch 2. While that’s not a very big number, you can expect Nintendo to ramp up a series of forst party titles to keep you going till then.

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Nintendo Switch 2

The Nintendo Switch 2 is the successor to Nintendo Switch, scheduled for release in 2025. Confirmed as backwards compatible, it will play both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games. A full reveal is pencilled in for April 2, 2025.

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