Valve has made a surprise announcement, officially launching the Steam Machine console to the world.
The company has likewise announced the process of purchasing one via Steam.
Valve Launches the Steam Machine
According to the latest announcement by Valve on its Steam Store website, sign-ups for the Steam Machine are live now on the platform and will remain open through Thursday, June 25, at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.
Once the window closes, Valve will randomize the list of everyone who signed up to determine who gets a shot at buying first. To qualify for a reservation, users need a Steam account in good standing and must have purchased on Steam before April 27, 2026. Sign-ups are also limited to one per household.
The compact gaming system is built around SteamOS and is designed to handle 4K gaming at 60 FPS using FSR, running on semi-custom AMD desktop-class hardware. It comes packed with built-in power, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and is designed to run quietly inside a roughly six-inch cube.
Valve Steam Machine: Sign-Up to Purchase
The reservation system is a deliberate move on Valve's part to keep the "Steam Machine" out of the hands of resellers and scalpers. Valve explained that a launch tied to one specific day and time tends to favor bots, people with fast internet connections, and those who can plan their schedule around that exact moment.
By opening reservations over several days instead, with no advantage for being first, the company is hoping to remove some of that pressure while also verifying that signups come from real, unique accounts.
Once the sign-up period ends, Valve will send out a wave of emails letting people know whether they landed in the reservation queue or got placed on a waitlist instead.
Those in the queue will get an email opening a 72-hour window to complete their purchase before the offer moves to the next person in line. The first batch of these emails goes out starting June 29, and Valve expects the reservation queue to last through the rest of the year.
Steam Machine Price, Bundles Unveiled
The "Steam Machine" launches in four different configurations, split between two storage tiers and two bundle options that feature the Steam Controller alongside it. Pricing in the US is broken down as follows:
- Steam Machine 512GB: $1,049
- Steam Machine 512GB + Steam Controller bundle: $1,128
- Steam Machine 2TB: $1,349
- Steam Machine 2TB + Steam Controller bundle: $1,428
Both 2TB configurations also come with two extra faceplates, one in red fabric and one in solid walnut. Valve acknowledged that the pricing landed higher than originally planned.
The company said that component costs, particularly for RAM and storage, shifted quickly and significantly over the past year, making its original price target no longer realistic.
Valve added that the prices reflect the actual cost of components it has secured over the past six months. Availability has also taken a hit, with Valve noting that some parts could not be sourced at any price, directly affecting how many units it could produce for launch.
The company did not reveal when the Steam Machine will officially ship to users who have signed up and completed the purchase.
