Valve opens up Steam Deck reservations in handheld-dominant countries

Valve is expanding its Steam Deck missions to some regions that could take off the PC-meets-portable console. The company just announced that reservations are now open in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan via Komodo, a site that also sells Valve’s Index VR headset for PC among other games and gaming merchandise. If you visit steamdeck.com In one of these areas, you should be taken to Komodo’s website soon, otherwise you can Click here and select your language.

Says Valve spokesperson Kaci Aitchison Boyle The lip that the first batch of new reservations will be fulfilled later this year; a press release adds that shipments will begin in Japan, “with additional units scheduled to ship to customers in Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the coming weeks.”

Have one for our friends in Australia, though, who are still waiting for release news after Valve dropped the country’s name during the November 2021 developer summit.

In Japan, the Steam Deck will start at 59,800 yen (about $447), going up to 99,800 yen (about $746) for the premium 512GB model. In the US, these models cost $400 and $650, respectively. As before, you only need to pay a small refundable amount now to secure your reservation: 1,000 yen (about $7.50).

Snapshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge

Here are the starting prices elsewhere, according to Valve:

• NT$13,380 in Taiwan
• HK$3,288 in Hong Kong
• 589,000 KRW in Korea

Each translates to about $450 USD.

Valve credits its recent production ramp-up for making this major expansion possible, and notes that serving these additional countries will not delay delivery estimates for those who have already pre-ordered a Deck.

If you are in Kyoto this weekend for the annual BitSummit gaming convention, Valve will apparently have some sort of presence there with the Steam Deck as well as the Tokyo Game Show in September 2022.

Mobile gaming is popular around the world, but especially so in places like Japan, where huge swathes of the population commute in and out of major cities by train every day. While access to Steam is nothing new in these regions, having the option to purchase a moderately powerful, well-built and relatively compact handheld (while huge, compared to the Nintendo Switch) on which to play these games computer is a big deal.

The past couple of months have brought a lot of good news about the Deck’s availability, the main one being that you can pre-order it now and likely have it by the end of the year. Valve announced at the end of June that it will start doubling Steam Deck shipments, which in turn could lead to more people getting Deck hardware earlier than expected. And more recently, in late July, Valve shared that it was ramping up production to better meet demand after clearing up some supply chain issues.

Update, 8:27 p.m. ET: Added pricing information.