The new Steam Deck OLED offers a substantial upgrade over the original LCD device. However, Valve is placing huge restrictions on customers looking to buy the new Limited Edition version of the console in order to stomp out scalpers.
Valve’s Steam Deck OLED has a few huge changes over the base model, but not major performance improvements. Nevertheless, the device’s announcement has already proven extremely popular with many looking to upgrade.
In order to control demand, Valve has set up numerous restrictions on the new Steam Deck’s Limited Edition to prevent scalpers from getting their hands on the new system before actual customers. Revealed in a rare tweet from the company, customers will have to meet certain criteria to be able to buy the fancy model.
“The Limited Edition Steam Deck OLED model will be available for purchase on November 16th, 10AM PST in the US and Canada,” Valve explained. “We are taking steps to minimize bots and resellers for this model, to ensure as many actual customers are able to purchase these units as possible.”
For starters, anyone looking to buy the new Steam Deck OLED Limited Edition will have to be based in the United States or Canada. Furthermore, their Steam account must be “in good standing” and must’ve made a purchase before November 2023.
Finally, Valve has made it so that only one Steam Deck OLED Limited Edition can be purchased per account. These restrictions mean that, hopefully, actual customers who want Valve’s fancy console will be able to get one, as long as they’re based in the US and Canada.
“We see the Limited Edition model as an experiment (both in terms of learning how to pull it off, as well as gauging customer demand),” the company explained. “We’re hopeful that people are excited about this release, and if we see high demand it will give us confidence to do more colorways in the future.”
Fans have already started begging Valve to release the new Steam Deck Limited Edition console in other regions. While many fans have modified consoles themselves to have new colours, the fact that this new device is limited in quantity has made fans excited to get their hands on it. Nevertheless, there seem to be no plans to release this fancy Steam Deck elsewhere.