It’s silly to compare Switch 2 sales to Steam Deck sales.
The Switch 2 is a locked-down, vertically integrated platform. There are no ROG Switch 2s. No Lenovo Switch 2s. No Switch laptops or tower PCs with discrete GPUs. If you want to play Mario Kart World, your only option is to buy a Switch 2. Period.
Steam Deck, by contrast, isn’t a platform. It’s just one hardware option—one entry point into the sprawling, open ecosystem known as PC gaming.
Every year, around 245 million PCs are shipped globally. If even 20–25% of those are gaming-focused, that’s 49–61 million gaming PCs annually. Steam Deck is a sliver of that. So of course it won’t outsell a console that’s the only gateway to a major IP.
But that’s exactly the point.
PC gaming is too decentralized for any single device to dominate. The last “PC” that did was the Commodore 64, which sold 12.5–17 million units over 12 years because it was a self-contained platform, unlike modern Windows, Mac, or Linux machines.
That the Steam Deck has sold 4 million units despite competing with every other gaming PC in existence is remarkable. It didn’t just sell—it legitimized a category. Handheld PC gaming is now a thing. That’s why Lenovo, ASUS, and MSI have followed. Even Microsoft is getting in, optimizing Windows for handhelds—something they would never have done if the Steam Deck didn’t hold their feet to the fire.
So no, Steam Deck didn’t outsell the Switch 2. It didn’t need to.
It won by changing the landscape.
I’ve generally seen purchasing a Steam Deck as an informed decision. But most people are very nostalgic (can’t blame them, SNES to Wii Zeldas and Metroids were amazing) and have uncontrollable FOMO, which Nintendo keeps on milking even when their software and hardware is noticeably much worse than it’s competitors’. If anyone also wants to know how Nintendo currently uses the money they earn, here’s a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n025Gxn5GEM No wonder they’re less worried about wasting money on legal battles. No trace of the good old Nintendo.
This reads like someone who never played any of the switch titles. It’s not simply nostalgia. The switch titles were objectively good despite lackluster hardware. The switch lasted for almost a decade and is still playable today. People are buying switch 2 to be able to play the Nintendo exclusives.
It’s true that the hardware is largely lackluster, but especially in the case of the first party titles, and in general overall, the lackluster hardware just doesn’t prevent the games from looking and running great. Nintendo invests in developers capable of running large, complex games on somewhat modest hardware.
Got my hands on the first Switch model and it’s available games on it’s release date. I’ve played Nintendo games all my life. I just weigh the pros and cons of every option and am not ashamed to say Nintendo products and services aren’t a good deal right now. It doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the artistry and optimization efforts of development teams (Genyo Takeda did wonderful things at Nintendo until he retired, for instance), it means I carefully choose which hoops I jump through to purchase, play and keep the games I love.
You were saying earlier the main reason someone would buy a switch 2 was nostalgia. Nintendo still makes great games that generally run great even on their lowered speced hardware. Some of the games for the switch were some of the best installments in their respective franchises.
I’ve become disillusioned a bit with them for other reasons (console repairability, their litigiousness, the semi-closed ecosystem, joycon drift, the higher game price points lately) but the exclusive games are still rocking, and the exclusive games are a lot of the reason you’d buy a switch 2.
I’m frankly glad you liked them so much. Which are your favorites?
Animal Crossing New Horizons was great. I was also a pretty big fan of Mario Odyssey. Both Zelda games were great (though I know the first one was released to the Wii U or whatever). Mario Kart was great of course. Mario party was a little underwhelming this time but I think they’ve since released a better one. Smash Brothers was great. Mario Wonder? Was pretty awesome too.
I have played them, they are ok. But I would be extremely disappointed if I spent that much money and that is all I got.
It’s almost like different people enjoy different things haha
shrug to each their own
This is such a wild take. « I buy the steam deck because I am informed and smart, they buy the switch 2 because they’re nostalgic impulsive morons ».
Has it ever occurred to you that not everybody is you, and people have different tastes ? Some gamers want to play the latest COD, others are Final Fantasy super fan, and others want to play Zelda and Mario. Most people even just play on a smartphone! (Disgusting, I know).
Your lack of basic awareness of what an individual is is astonishing. May I never meet and have to talk to someone like you again.
I think you’re missing the point.
The steam deck is still relatively niche and unknown compared to a switch.
The namesake and brand recognition for nintendo completely dwarfs that of the steam deck.
More people are going to buy a switch on impulse and brandname alone so buying a steam deck is almost always going to be an informed decision as in it won’t be much of an impulse purchase.
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What’s most common doesn’t aply to everyone, just to most. But your reasoning didn’t favor the point you were trying to make, and pushed the notion that I’m disgusted at anyone playing on a smartphone (I play on mine too, so no). So yeah, just as you said, even if some people buy a Switch with other reasons in mind, most will because they want to stick to where their Zeldas and Marios are. Some may even get triggered whenever someone posts info about how the Switch and Switch 2 won’t get you the best bang for your buck and therefore might not be the most well informed purchases you can make for your gaming needs.
One way to get offended and misinterpret a sentence. Lol no one wants to talk to you anyways lil bro.
Edit: of course you drive a Tesla
I actually think that the Steam Deck is popular enough to be the easy thing to get into PC gaming. Jennifer English (actress of Shadowheart and Maelle) got one after becoming a voting BAFTA member in order to evaluate PC games. And although I think she would care about software freedom she has no idea that it is even a thing that exists.
A Steam Deck was as much an informed decision for her as getting a PlayStation 5 to play Baldur’s Gate 3. So mostly none.
True. Someone else also pointed out that Nintendo’s brand casts a huge shadow over lesser known products like the Deck, which is also true. Anyone new to gaming that doesn’t take their time to figure out which handheld will be cheaper and more feature rich will either get a Switch, a Switch 2 or one of those fake Switch consoles sold for under $50.
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