Valve’s New Steam Machine Could Be Priced Like A PC, Not A Console

In a recent interview, Valve warned that the upcoming Steam Machine won't be priced like a game console. It's not clear what that means just yet, but speculation concerning the Steam Machine's pricing has been rampant. We previously wrote up a defense of the Steam Machine's mid-range PC specifications, but GPU performance roughly on par with PS5 and CPU performance higher than the PS5 Pro may not be enough to sell this device if pricing is exorbitant. Unfortunately, representatives from Valve said in an interview with Skill Up on YouTube that the Steam Machine will be priced "more in line with what you might expect from the current PC market".

The pricing question, which starts at about the 1:23:00 mark, is only a small part of the interview, which mostly focuses on hardware and software questions regarding the Steam Hardware rollout. It's an interesting watch, especially for readers who want to learn more about Valve's hardware strategy, but a lot of it treads over information we already know. For example, we've known for some time that Steam Deck 2 is still waiting for major architectural advancements that would allow a generational performance leap with similar (or better) battery life than the Steam Deck OLED.


Readers less tuned into the wider PC market may not know what "outside factors" Valve is referring to regarding final Steam Machine pricing. The short version is that pricing for NAND and DRAM has shot up dramatically in recent weeks due to ever-decreasing supply, in light of ever-increasing enterprise AI demand.

Short of a spontaneous AI bubble burst occurring before the end of the year, gamers and PC enthusiasts may be in for an extended period where SSDs, RAM and GPUs are significantly more expensive, and Valve won't be absorbing that extra cost with the Steam Machine. There's a chance that the Steam Machine will have competitive pricing with similar options in the market, especially as the supply chain squeeze makes its way to consoles as well, but that may not matter if your average gamer can no longer afford the hardware.