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

Black Ops 7 Beta Struggles on Steam – Player Count Nearly 5x Lower Than Battlefield 6 Beta

According to SteamDB, Black Ops 7 beta player count only topped at about 100K players, compared to Battlefield 6 beta's over 500K.

Activision Claims 97% Of Black Ops 7 Cheaters Are Banned Within 30 Minutes

97% of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 cheaters were banned within 30 minutes of signing in, while only 1% made it into the game.

Silent Hill 3 Remake Reportedly Coming in 2028 as Bloober Team Works on Resident Evil-Inspired New IP

Bloober Team is rumored to be working on a Silent Hill 3 remake and a new Resident Evil-inspired IP, with releases expected in 2026 and 2028.

Battlefield 6: EA Promises 120 FPS Performance on Consoles and Free DLC Support

Battlefield 6 to support 120FPS, and alongside, EA to give out a free DLC titled 'Covert Operations' during Season 1.

Microsoft Reportedly Scrapped Its Xbox Handheld After AMD’s Shocking Demands

A new report reveals that the first-party Xbox handheld was cancelled because AMD demanded 10 million sales to develop a custom SoC.