Valve has delayed the launch of its extremely anticipated Steam Machine console – and slapped it with a worth hike – due to a worldwide scarcity of RAM and storage. According to the corporate’s official blog post, the compact gaming PC will now arrive within the “first half” of 2026, somewhat than the primary quarter.
“When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now. But the memory and storage shortages you’ve likely heard about across the industry have rapidly increased since then,” says Valve. “The limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing.”
After the runaway success of the Steam Deck in 2022, the legendary video games developer is ready to place front room favourites PlayStation and Xbox on discover with the launch of the Steam Machine. The console is one in every of three new items of {hardware} within the works, alongside the Steam Controller and the Steam Frame, a VR headset positioned as a rival to the Meta Quest.
This time round, Valve isn’t merely stuffing a PC right into a field and calling it a video games console. The Steam Machine has been purpose-built with a real console-style design, sufficiently small to suit neatly underneath your TV. It’s supposed for living-room play, loved from the couch somewhat than from an workplace chair. Powered by a {custom} AMD chip, Valve is promising clean 4K gaming, aided by upscaling expertise designed to reinforce picture sharpness and general efficiency.
Here’s every little thing we all know thus far, from worth to launch date.
Steam Machine launch date and worth
Valve says the Steam Machine will land within the first half of 2026, following a brief delay brought on by a worldwide scarcity of element components as AI datacentres ramp up demand. The Steam Deck adopted an identical timeline in 2022, arriving in mid-February after the identical early window was introduced.
There’s additionally some hypothesis round how Valve will deal with the launch itself. When the Steam Deck first launched, it rolled out progressively, first by invitation solely. The gaming big may select to comply with the identical launch, somewhat than giving it a standard full international console launch. Valve hasn’t confirmed this, however it’s a possible technique given Valve’s tight-knit firm construction. The firm advised Eurogamer that it plans to distribute the Steam Machine “the exact same way as Steam Deck”, that means will probably be offered straight by way of Steam and by way of regional companions.
In phrases of worth? Again, nothing’s confirmed in the mean time, however Valve told The Verge that will probably be “comparable to a PC with similar specs”, however “positioned closer to the entry level of the PC space”. Valve additionally told Eurogamer that the Steam Machine ought to be within the “same ballpark as other consoles” available on the market.
Since then, nonetheless, Valve has stated that manufacturing prices for the Steam Machine have been impacted by skyrocketing RAM costs, which have greater than doubled in latest months. The firm had deliberate to launch pricing info by now, however has delayed asserting something concrete.
There has been hypothesis about what the unique pricing of the Steam Machine might have seemed like after a Czech retailer’s listings for the 512GB mannequin 2TB mannequin had been launched on-line. While the worth shouldn’t be listed, a Reddit user named Pajman64 found that the costs had been obvious within the web site’s supply code, itemizing the 2 fashions at 19,826 CZK and 22,305 CZK apiece. This works out to roughly £708 or $953 for the 512GB mannequin, and £796 or $1072 for the 2TB mannequin.
Of course, that is all hypothesis. It have to be famous that the Czech retailer Smarty is a third-party website, albeit an authorised vendor of Valve merchandise within the nation, so a mark-up is probably going. Plus, it’s not clear whether or not the official pricing from Valve has been given to Smarty, so the costs may be its personal estimates.
I initially predicted that the worth of the Valve Steam Machine would fall nearer to that of the worth of the PS5 Pro (which prices £700) somewhat than the Nintendo Switch 2, which prices £395 – so these speculations are consistent with my estimates.
Read extra: PlayStation 5 evaluation: Is the bestselling console price your cash?
Steam Machine specs and design
Valve’s new Steam Machine is actually a tiny living-room PC disguised as a console. The gaming firm says the entire thing is in regards to the dimension of a 6in dice, which is sufficiently small to slip underneath a telly or perch on a desk with out taking over an excessive amount of room.
It runs SteamOS and helps quick droop and resume, cloud saves and a well-recognized Steam Deck-style interface. The entrance includes a customisable LED mild strip, and the ability provide is constructed into the physique somewhat than sitting in an exterior brick. There appear to be a great deal of ports too, together with twin show outputs by way of HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4, in addition to 4 USB-A ports, a 10Gbps USB-C port and a Gigabit Ethernet port on the rear. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 are inbuilt, and the machine has a devoted wi-fi receiver for pairing with the brand new Steam Controller. The Steam Machine additionally includes a magnetic, detachable entrance plate. Valve reportedly has plans to launch 3D information so individuals can print their very own designs.
Valve has additionally confirmed that, whereas SteamOS is the default working system, the Steam Machine received’t be locked down like a standard console. Speaking to Eurogamer, the corporate stated customers are free to put in different working techniques and “bootloader to your heart’s content”, making it attainable to run third-party apps and video games purchased exterior of Steam if you wish to deal with the {hardware} extra like a traditional PC.
The Steam controller works throughout all the Steam gadgets, and pairs straight with the Steam Machine. Valve says the gamepad makes use of magnetic thumbsticks which can be designed to really feel extra responsive and last more, and there’s a brand new magnetic charging puck that doubles as its wi-fi adapter. You can nonetheless use Bluetooth or USB should you favor, and the controller will help movement controls by way of a function referred to as Grip Sense. This turns gyro aiming on or off, relying on the way you maintain it.
In November, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais told the Friends Per Second podcast that the Steam Machine helps HDMI-CEC, so it might probably flip your TV on and off, and that the console could be powered on from the controller. Weirdly, this typical console function, Griffais stated, was tough to duplicate on a console PC.
In phrases of specs? According to Valve, the brand new Steam Machine delivers greater than six instances the horsepower of the Steam Deck and is constructed to run your whole Steam library, together with trendy AAA video games. However, Valve has stated that compatibility wouldn’t be good at launch, significantly in the case of multiplayer video games that depend on kernel-level anti-cheat software program, which may stop some on-line titles from operating on SteamOS, even when the sport itself would in any other case work by way of Valve’s Proton compatibility layer.
It makes use of a semi-custom AMD processor and graphics chip, whereas supporting 4K gaming at 60fps by way of FSR upscaling. Two fashions will probably be out there at launch, a 512GB model and a 2TB model, and each help extra storage utilizing a microSD card.
On the within, there’s reportedly 16GB of RAM, plus room for NVMe SSD upgrades if you need extra storage than the built-in 512GB or 2TB fashions. There’s additionally reportedly help for options like ray tracing when paired with the best TV or monitor. In an early demo, The Verge claimed the Steam Machine was capable of run Cyberpunk 2077 at settings that seemed roughly consistent with what you’d anticipate from a PS5 Pro.
Valve has additionally confirmed the Steam Machine will help HDR over each HDMI and DisplayPort, together with variable refresh price options similar to AMD FreeSync. This ought to imply the console ought to work effectively on trendy TVs and screens for richer colors, higher distinction and smoother gameplay. Essentially, it’ll play like a PS5 or Xbox Series X.
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