Valve Advises Against The Trend of Inhaling Steam Deck Fumes

Expert Verified By

Some People Can't Stop Sniffing The Vents!

Story Highlights
  • Steam Deck owners have found the smell of the exhaust fumes irresistible.
  • This trend has become so popular that Valve has noticed it and issued a warning.
  • While nothing serious has happened yet, this act can be harmful.

The Steam Deck has always been popular in the portable gaming market. With over 9000 supported games, the handheld is highly desirable for fans of gaming on the go, and its popularity has only gone up after the recent release of the Oled model.

However, this popularity has come with a caveat. Following the console’s launch, a viral trend on Reddit has seen curious social media users sniffing the vents due to an addictive scent.

However, Valve warns that this should be strictly avoided.

Why it matters: While this trend was initially limited to smaller circles on the internet, it grew enough to reach Valve, highlighting the hilarity in this bizarre situation.

Steam Deck original system

Because of this trend, Valve has stated that users should not deliberately sniff the vents for health reasons. Several discussion threads, blogs, and tweets suggest that since the portable console’s inception in 2022, the number of vent sniffers has constantly risen.

It appears people are drawn to the exhaust vent fumes and find it impossible to resist them. They have even made jokes about how the fumes smell like Cheetos and new laundry.

Despite acknowledging that it is a meme, Valve advises users to refrain from continuing this practice. Although there hasn’t been a serious report of damage or injury yet, Valve has found it best to stay on the safe side.

There are microtoxic fumes or impurities in the vents that can travel directly to the lungs while inhaling. This is true for every electronic device, so this advice is not limited to just the Steam Deck.

Like Valve, we hope our readers stay away from partaking in this trend. However pleasant the fumes might smell, they certainly aren’t worth the health risks associated with the act of inhaling them.

Was our article helpful? 👨‍💻

Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔

Gear Up For Latest News

Get exclusive gaming & tech news before it drops. Sign up today!

Join Our Community

Still having issues? Join the Tech4Gamers Forum for expert help and community support!

Latest News

Join Our Community

104,000FansLike
32,122FollowersFollow

Trending

Playground Games Is Developing 3rd Project Beyond Forza Horizon 6 and Fable

Playground Games is working on a 3rd secret 'undisclosed' project in addition to Forza Horizon 6 and Fable.

Detroit: Become Human Reaches Peak Player Count Almost a Decade After Launch

Detroit: Become Human reached its highest player count ever on Steam, 8 years after the game's initial launch.

Larian Says It Won’t Use Gen AI For Divinity Art, But Doesn’t Rule Out Using The Tech For Development

Larian CEO has confirmed that the Divinity concept art won't be made using gen AI; however, they will explore it to expedite development.

With Memory Market in Chaos, ASRock’s Dual DDR4/DDR5 Board Changes Everything

In an era where RAM prices have soared beyond reason, ASRock's H610M offers both DDR5/DDR4 slots, highlighting a customer-first approach.

Upcoming Xbox Developer Direct Will Feature A Currently Unannounced 4th Game

A reliable insider suggests that Xbox has an unannounced 4th game announcement at the Developer Direct, which is set for Januray 22, 2026.