Valve has delayed the launch of its highly anticipated Steam Machine console – and slapped it with a price hike – thanks to a global shortage of RAM and storage. According to the company’s official blog post, the compact gaming PC will now arrive in the “first half” of 2026, rather than the first 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 games developer is set to put living room favourites PlayStation and Xbox on notice with the launch of the Steam Machine. The console is one of three new pieces of hardware in the works, alongside the Steam Controller and the Steam Frame, a VR headset positioned as a rival to the Meta Quest.
This time around, Valve isn’t simply stuffing a PC into a box and calling it a games console. The Steam Machine has been purpose-built with a true console-style design, small enough to fit neatly under your TV. It’s intended for living-room play, enjoyed from the sofa rather than from an office chair. Powered by a custom AMD chip, Valve is promising smooth 4K gaming, aided by upscaling technology designed to enhance image sharpness and overall performance.
Here’s everything we know so far, from price to release date.
Steam Machine release date and price
Valve says the Steam Machine will land in the first half of 2026, following a short delay caused by a global shortage of component parts as AI datacentres ramp up demand. The Steam Deck followed a similar timeline in 2022, arriving in mid-February after the same early window was announced.
There’s also some speculation around how Valve will handle the launch itself. When the Steam Deck first launched, it rolled out gradually, first by invitation only. The gaming giant might choose to follow the same launch, rather than giving it a traditional full global console release. Valve hasn’t confirmed this, but it’s a likely strategy given Valve’s tight-knit company structure. The company told Eurogamer that it plans to distribute the Steam Machine “the exact same way as Steam Deck”, meaning it will be sold directly through Steam and via regional partners.
In terms of price? Again, nothing’s confirmed at the moment, but Valve told The Verge that it will be “comparable to a PC with similar specs”, but “positioned closer to the entry level of the PC space”. Valve also told Eurogamer that the Steam Machine should be in the “same ballpark as other consoles” on the market.
Since then, however, Valve has said that production costs for the Steam Machine have been impacted by skyrocketing RAM prices, which have more than doubled in recent months. The company had planned to release pricing information by now, but has delayed announcing anything concrete.
There has been speculation about what the original pricing of the Steam Machine could have looked like after a Czech retailer's listings for the 512GB model 2TB model were released online. While the price is not listed, a Reddit user named Pajman64 discovered that the prices were apparent in the website's source code, listing the two models at 19,826 CZK and 22,305 CZK apiece. This works out to roughly £708 or $953 for the 512GB model, and £796 or $1072 for the 2TB model.
Of course, this is all speculation. It must be noted that the Czech retailer Smarty is a third-party site, albeit an authorised seller of Valve products in the country, so a mark-up is likely. Plus, it’s not clear whether the official pricing from Valve has been given to Smarty, so the prices might be its own estimates.
I initially predicted that the price of the Valve Steam Machine would fall closer to that of the price of the PS5 Pro (which costs £700) rather than the Nintendo Switch 2, which costs £395 – so these speculations are in line with my estimates.
Read more: PlayStation 5 review: Is the bestselling console worth your money?
Steam Machine specs and design
Valve’s new Steam Machine is essentially a tiny living-room PC disguised as a console. The gaming company says the whole thing is about the size of a 6in cube, which is small enough to slide under a telly or perch on a desk without taking up too much room.
It runs SteamOS and supports fast suspend and resume, cloud saves and a familiar Steam Deck-style interface. The front features a customisable LED light strip, and the power supply is built into the body rather than sitting in an external brick. There seem to be loads of ports too, including twin display outputs via HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4, as well as four USB-A ports, a 10Gbps USB-C port and a Gigabit Ethernet port on the rear. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 are built in, and the machine has a dedicated wireless receiver for pairing with the new Steam Controller. The Steam Machine also features a magnetic, removable front plate. Valve reportedly has plans to release 3D files so people can print their own designs.
Valve has also confirmed that, while SteamOS is the default operating system, the Steam Machine won’t be locked down like a traditional console. Speaking to Eurogamer, the company said users are free to install other operating systems and “bootloader to your heart’s content”, making it possible to run third-party apps and games bought outside of Steam if you want to treat the hardware more like a conventional PC.
The Steam controller works across all of the Steam devices, and pairs directly with the Steam Machine. Valve says the gamepad uses magnetic thumbsticks that are designed to feel more responsive and last longer, and there’s a new magnetic charging puck that doubles as its wireless adapter. You can still use Bluetooth or USB if you prefer, and the controller will support motion controls through a feature called Grip Sense. This turns gyro aiming on or off, depending on how you hold it.
In November, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais told the Friends Per Second podcast that the Steam Machine supports HDMI-CEC, so it can turn your TV on and off, and that the console can be powered on from the controller. Weirdly, this typical console feature, Griffais said, was difficult to replicate on a console PC.
In terms of specs? According to Valve, the new Steam Machine delivers more than six times the horsepower of the Steam Deck and is built to run your entire Steam library, including modern AAA games. However, Valve has said that compatibility wouldn’t be perfect at launch, particularly when it comes to multiplayer games that rely on kernel-level anti-cheat software, which can prevent some online titles from running on SteamOS, even if the game itself would otherwise work through Valve’s Proton compatibility layer.
It uses a semi-custom AMD processor and graphics chip, while supporting 4K gaming at 60fps through FSR upscaling. Two models will be available at launch, a 512GB version and a 2TB version, and both support additional storage using a microSD card.
On the inside, there’s reportedly 16GB of RAM, plus room for NVMe SSD upgrades if you want more storage than the built-in 512GB or 2TB models. There’s also reportedly support for features like ray tracing when paired with the right TV or monitor. In an early demo, The Verge claimed the Steam Machine was able to run Cyberpunk 2077 at settings that looked roughly in line with what you’d expect from a PS5 Pro.
Valve has also confirmed the Steam Machine will support HDR over both HDMI and DisplayPort, along with variable refresh rate features such as AMD FreeSync. This should mean the console should work well on modern TVs and monitors for richer colours, better contrast and smoother gameplay. Essentially, it’ll play like a PS5 or Xbox Series X.
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