Steam Deck in India: How to Buy, Release Date

You may have noticed that the Steam Deck is the number one bestselling item in the Steam Summer Sale but it is not something you can buy in India officially. Valve has expressed its interest in making the device widely available but the Indian market is yet to receive an option to buy the Steam Deck directly. However, it has not stopped the imported devices from flooding the market. If you are looking to buy a grey market Steam Deck or want to know when it will release officially in India, here’s what you need to know.

Steam Deck in India: Before you buy a grey market device

One thing is for certain if you are buying a Steam Deck in India, do not go for the 64 GB eMMC model. Instead, you should always go for the 256 GB NVMe SSD or the 512 GB NVMe SSD model. eMMC technology will not offer you the same level of performance as NVMe and while the internal specifications like the CPU and GPU are the same, you will notice that the 64 GB variant suffers in loading times. 

Here is what the device’s hardware specifications look like: 

• Processor: 2.4 – 3.5GHz Zen 2 (4 Cores, 8 thread)

• Display: 7-inch IPS LCD 60Hz 1280 x 800

• RAM: 16GB LPDDR5

• Storage: 64, 256, 512

• OS: Steam OS 3.0

• Battery: 40Whr battery

• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0

• Audio: Stereo sound

The second thing that you need to know is that you will be paying a premium for a grey-market device. The official price for the Steam Deck would have been around the INR 40,000 mark but online sellers are listing them at around INR 48,000. 

There will be no warranty on a grey-market Steam Deck. If you are purchasing an imported device, we recommend buying from a trusted seller. On websites like Amazon India you should get a 30-day return guarantee in case of any defects and that is the whole extent of the protection you will get on your purchase.

If you face any issues with the hardware, you will have to rely on local services that fix consoles and other gaming hardware to help you out and it is not a risk that many are willing to take. The Nintendo Switch suffered the same fate in India and avid gamers ended up taking a risk and buying it without any warranty just to experience Nintendo’s best offerings. 

Buying a Steam Deck in India is a huge financial risk and you should proceed carefully before buying a product without warranty.

Steam Deck in India: Alternatives 

The ASUS ROG Ally is coming to India in July for INR 69,990. It is a more capable device but it is also more expensive and we recommend waiting a while to see how the device’s software support is. 

You can wait for an official release of the Steam Deck or go for one of its alternatives but we recommend putting in some time to research before loosening your wallet for an alternate device as it might not have the same level of support as Valve’s offering.

Steam Deck in India: Release Date

There is no official word on when Valve will expand its target markets for the Steam Deck. If you are waiting for the Steam Deck in India, you could be waiting weeks or even years until it is available officially.