$1,049 Steam Machine is still a "good value," Valve engineer says, even though it was supposed to be $789 like the Steam Deck

Half-Life: Alyx.

The Steam Machine costs $1,049, and that's not entirely Valve's fault. The publisher had originally wanted its mini PC-console hybrid to be priced closer to the $789 Steam Deck, but ongoing component shortages swiftly killed that dream. Still, its engineers hope you're happy.

Engineer Yazan Aldehayyat tells Eurogamer in a new interview, "It's hard because I don't think we ever really had an official price or anything like that – I think we had some ideas – but it's really difficult to quantify it." He says the Steam Deck price serves as "a rough estimate" for Valve's original plans, but he nonetheless believes $1,049 is "a good value."