I mean, I would rather have a Steam Deck too, but then we’re getting into how much people value openness versus price, and that’s definitely not a constant; some people aren’t going to care much about openness.

That said, if I were trying to compare Valve’s offering and Microsoft’s offering, I’d probably compare a desktop PC running Steam to the XBox, as they’re more-physically-comparable in terms of what they can do; the Series S doesn’t have one having to pay for mobility. If one were comparing to a mobile console, then sure, the Deck is a legit comparison.

I still would say that the XBox Series S is going to be cheaper on the low end, though, than a desktop PC. You can get a $279 PC that can play games and a comparable controller, but I’d bet that it’d be more-limited than a Series S.

That being said, Microsoft sells the XBox at a loss, and then makes it back by jacking up the price of games:

https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-says-xbox-consoles-have-always-been-sold-at-a-loss

As VGC points out, Wright was also asked if there’s ever been a profit generated from an Xbox console sale, which she confirmed has never happened. To put that in context, Microsoft has been selling Xbox consoles for nearly 20 years now, including the original Xbox, the Xbox 360, Xbox One, and now the Xbox Series X and Series S. In all that time, every single console sale cost Microsoft money.

The reason game consoles end up being profitable is through a combination of software, service, and accessory sales, but it’s still surprising to find Microsoft has never achieved hardware profitability. Analyst Daniel Ahmad confirmed that the PS4 eventually became profitable for Sony and that Nintendo developed the Switch to be profitable quickly, so Microsoft is the odd one out.

We know that consumers weight the up-front price of hardware disproportionately – that’s why you have companies selling cell phones at a loss, locking them to their network, and then making the money back in increased subscription fees. I assume that that’s to try to take advantage of that phenomenon.

If you wanted to compare the full price that you pay over the lifetime of the console, one would probably need to account for the increased game price on consoles and how many games someone would buy.

Now, all that being said, I don’t have a Series S or a Series X, and I’m not arguing that someone should buy them. I have a Linux PC for gaming precisely because I do value openness, so in terms of which system I’d rather have, you’re preaching to the choir. I’m just saying that I don’t think that I’d agree with the above statement that the Deck is as cheap as the Series S.