We had been pumped for the launch of the Steam Machine after visiting Valve HQ late final 12 months. We even wrote up some pricing expectations, which in hindsight look to be the product of extremely wishful considering. However we did not know what we do now. On account of unimaginable demand for reminiscence chips of every kind—DRAM, largely, however NAND too—to be used with AI, your complete PC gaming ecosystem is in sticker shock. Costs are rising many instances overs.
Valve, too, is not immune. In a brand new FAQ, the corporate highlights how it might’ve preferred to have shared costs for its newest merchandise—the Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Body—by now. Nevertheless, the reminiscence disaster has demanding a rethink.
Jacob Ridley
Authentic estimate: $529 (512 GB) | $649 (2 TB)
Let’s take a look at reminiscence costs, first off. A 16 GB dual-channel equipment of plain Essential reminiscence used to value round $50 or much less. Immediately, it is round $200. 4 instances as a lot. One analyst agency in the present day famous reminiscence prices surging as much as 90% to this point this 12 months. It is solely the beginning of February, eesh.
The Steam Machine makes use of SODIMM sticks, often present in laptops, and usually costlier for shoppers to buy. Single stick kits are a bit of extra reasonably priced. I would not be too stunned to see Valve change to single stick RAM in mild of present SODIMM costs, because it in any other case has nowhere else to go—the platform helps DDR5 and going decrease than 16 GB could be a catastrophe within the making.
Although you’d anticipate Valve to tug beneficial charges with suppliers in comparison with the typical joe, however Valve is not one of many huge guys. Equally, the studies of firms staking out reminiscence producers in Korea within the slim hope of scoring sticks places any significant low cost into doubt.
Final 12 months, I guessed $529-$649 for the Steam Machine, on the premise that if Valve charged extra, it might land on the identical value as some funds PCs with extra fashionable equipment. Plus, I went to Valve HQ, and it appeared to me like affordability was a consideration all through the design. As I stated then, an RTX 5060 PC construct would set you again round $750-$800.
However that was then. These days, you are taking a look at round $900 for one thing comparable and even that is a rarity. It is as much as $1,000 for an RX 9060 XT, although a extra highly effective and newer GPU than the one discovered within the Steam Machine.
Since my authentic guess, we have additionally heard Valve speak on the potential price ticket. Not simply the bombshell final night time that it is nonetheless making an attempt to determine it out, however that it intends to cost the Steam Machine “like a PC, not a console”. Equally, Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of many engineers behind the undertaking, confirmed that Valve was aiming at value parity with a equally performing PC (ie a reasonably reasonably priced PC), however that pricing was up within the air. And these feedback had been made earlier than the brand new 12 months, earlier than reminiscence shortages actually hit hardest.
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All collectively, it seems like Valve’s finest probability of getting a Linux machine into each front room was someday final 12 months, and now it is searching for a approach to climate the continuing reminiscence disaster. Maybe with a view to do one thing just like the Steam Deck—preserve the Machine round available in the market lengthy sufficient to make an influence and scale back BOM prices. Although in contrast to the Steam Deck, which loved a rush for preorders on account of its affordability, the identical won’t occur for the Steam Machine if it is touchdown at too excessive a value and through a gradual interval in PC gross sales—which analysts anticipate we’ll see this 12 months.
I preserve revising my guess as I fluctuate between optimistic and real looking.
I’ve simply scrolled by way of Newegg’s prebuilt PCs, going from most cost-effective first, and you may’t purchase a remotely fashionable gaming PC for lower than $750, and I am being fairly beneficiant with my definition of ‘fashionable’. That’ll get you couple-generation-old tech and DDR4 (which is okay for gaming however it’s not precisely the most recent and best). For what Valve’s providing, one-generation-old tech and DDR5, you would be fortunate to search out that beneath a grand on Newegg. I’ve solely discovered that Walmart machine for $900 that dares to incorporate DDR5 for that sorta cash.
For the 512 GB mannequin, and I preserve revising my guess as I fluctuate between optimistic and real looking, round $899. Cost rather more and it might be cheaper to purchase a PC with higher components and extra cupboard space. Although if Valve is holding off till, say, June to launch this factor, because the reminiscence disaster threatens to deepen, maybe we can’t see as many PCs like that $900 one from Walmart—which is a little bit of a rarity even in the present day.
For the two TB mannequin, I am questioning if Valve is not contemplating ditching that solely, with these drives in extra of $200 a chunk. I feel Valve would have a really onerous time promoting it for a four-digit sum. Top customers would purchase the cheaper possibility and wait till all this blows over to improve the storage, proper?
How a lot is it price to Valve to get extra gamers on SteamOS? That is doubtless part of the discussions ongoing at Valve HQ because it offers with this dire state of affairs. And hey, if you wish to blame one thing for the state of affairs we’re in, you may blame AI.
Nick Evanson
Authentic estimate: $599 (2 TB)
I’ve to confess that I used to be totally naive to suppose that the Steam Machine would launch at wherever close to $500. With a discrete CPU and GPU inside (i.e. no all-in-one APU to assist scale back prices), it was already going to be a bit of tough to maintain issues good and low cost. However now that the worldwide reminiscence state of affairs appears to be spiralling virtually uncontrolled, there’s zero probability that will probably be beneath $1,000. Sure, even the 512 GB possibility.
It may be beneath that price ticket, as a result of Valve does have the capital to successfully pre-order a metric shed load of bulk parts beneath contract, for much much less cash than you and I’ve to cough up after we want extra DRAM or a much bigger SSD. Nevertheless, Valve is not pitching the Steam Machine as being a ‘low cost’ gaming PC.
If it does launch with a four-figure price ticket, the launch will find yourself being considerably of a flop.
Sony and Microsoft can afford to maintain console costs comparatively low as a result of they had been designed from the very starting to be as low cost as potential to fabricate. After which there’s the truth that they each get further income from sport licences. Valve may get a wholesome minimize of a writer’s earnings on each sport that it distributes on Steam, however the Steam Machine is not a closed platform, or on the very least, it does not appear to be will probably be.
From what I can inform, it seems like you may stick any OS onto the machine, and so long as you may get maintain of the drivers for all of the {hardware} inside, you may keep away from SteamOS and Steam solely. In different phrases, Valve cannot assure that each Steam Machine it sells will routinely generate earnings through Steam itself, in contrast to with consoles.
None of my buddies have expressed any curiosity in shopping for a Steam Machine and I suppose that if it does launch with a four-figure price ticket, the launch will find yourself being considerably of a flop. There have to be some fairly morose folks at Valve proper now.
James Bentley
Authentic estimate: No value given
It is absurd to think about how a lot PC half pricing has modified within the handful of months since I final made a Steam Machine pricing guess. On the time, I guessed (or extra precisely, wished) for console, or barely above console, costs. With the fast-rising value of reminiscence and storage, I feel we may see costs rising as much as the $1,000 mark.
Totally different tiers of storage, mixed with upgradeable reminiscence and storage, definitely assist on this regard. It isn’t inconceivable to suppose Valve may put out a machine beneath $1,000 with the bottom potential storage and reminiscence, so a purchaser can improve at a later date.
Valve may have the privilege of direct contact with components producers, however, within the {hardware} area, it simply does not have the pull that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo do. It may possibly’t estimate gross sales within the tens of tens of millions, and risking the losses that console producers make will not be sustainable for it. That is earlier than mentioning that console producers particularly goal a extra reasonably priced value level, the place we’ve got heard little in that regard from Valve.
Valve says in its newest FAQ that it might probably’t say a value till it might probably ‘confidently announce’ it. This stage of uncertainty is definitely a worrying assertion on present provide and future acquisition. We do not know what stockpiling efforts have been made to fulfill demand, however I might guess the reply is ‘not sufficient’.
Andy Edser
Authentic estimate: $500–$600 (512 GB) | $700 (2 TB)
Andy Edser, {Hardware} Author: I cautiously estimated that the Steam Machine would find yourself with a $500-$600 price ticket final 12 months, however that was earlier than the reminiscence disaster turned the PC {hardware} market into an apocalyptic wasteland, with these of us ready to navigate it preventing tooth and nail over something with a DRAM module.
Positive, Valve (and AMD) will nonetheless doubtless be utilizing their appreciable trade affect and present reminiscence producer relationships to minimise the fallout. However at this level, taking a look at my earlier figures and what Valve has stated within the meantime, I’ve virtually definitely lowballed it.
$800-$1,000 for the 512 GB model, with the two TB model hovering properly over a grand. That is my guess, and this time I am sticking with it. Except one other {hardware} scarcity happens, or all of us find yourself underwater within the meantime. Through which case, $1,000+ for each, and me crying into my soup. We’ll see.
Dave James
Authentic estimate: $499 (512 GB) | $649 (2 TB)
I imply, at the very least Valve is remaining dedicated to launching all three new Steam-y merchandise within the first half of this 12 months, eh? That is ‘the purpose’ in any case. But when anybody is stunned that the Steam Machine and Steam Body pricing and launch dates are nonetheless up within the air as we get into February, then you definately clearly have not been taking note of the nightmare state of the PC {hardware} market proper now.
We have been monitoring reminiscence, SSD, and GPU pricing for the previous three or 4 months and it is solely going a technique; it is quickly going up. So, what’s Valve to do?
One factor it may do is launch the Steam Machine with a particular launch value, buying and selling on the truth that it might have gotten its preliminary run of reminiscence and SSDs, and sure, even GPU modules, for a very totally different value than subsequent orders will find yourself being if bought months later. In any case, Valve may have secured a certain quantity of the componentry on contract upfront of producing and eventual launch.
However we have been down that highway earlier than with the present technology of graphics playing cards after they launched early final 12 months. The MSRP and launch pricing of each single one among AMD and Nvidia’s RX 9000 or RTX 50-series playing cards was utterly totally different to what customers may choose them up for even only a few hours after the preliminary launch inventory had run dry… or retailers and producers sniffed an opportunity to gouge PC players on pricing.
Clearly, with Valve controlling the retail by way of the Steam retailer itself it might probably management these costs to keep away from gouging on new gear, besides, having to spike costs after launch itself will sting.
We do not really need that to occur right here with the Steam Machine and Steam Body. However we additionally do not know if Valve would have had sufficient of that early, cheaper RAM and SSD inventory to fulfil a launch in all of the territories it has promised. Should you do a particular launch value, it must be throughout the board.
Valve may nonetheless do the launch value dance, releasing the Steam Machine at $699 in restricted areas if it wished; pulling it again to a US-only launch simply inside its first-half of 2026 launch window.
However that is not going to make anybody completely satisfied, aside from the primary few hundred folks getting a Steam Machine for a never-to-be-seen once more value and re-selling them for over a grand on ebay.
So, I do not see Valve taking place that route. And it is already stated it is not going to subsidise the gadgets itself to attain a less expensive retail value in alternate for the hope of getting extra folks spending in its Steam ecosystem. Which is smart, as a result of I assure the overwhelming majority of individuals shopping for a Steam Machine will already be card carrying members of the Steam group with an enormous library of video games already on the platform.
I’m slowly coming round to the likelihood that it won’t really come out in any respect.
I suppose what I am coming spherical to is the truth that Valve is royally screwed right here.
This can be a funds gaming PC, with a specs listing that already places it behind the sub-$1,000 machines that you will see that at Walmart and Amazon. So it might probably’t actually go any increased than that and nonetheless hope to discover a place in peoples’ hearts. I get the argument that discovering a gaming PC that smol is hard, however equally if you happen to’re searching for an reasonably priced gaming PC, I’d wager value turns into a much more necessary level than the litre capability of the chassis.
That makes me suppose—if Valve really does launch the Steam Machine within the first half of this 12 months in any respect—it should value $999 for the 512 GB model and $1,500 for the two TB system by means of offsetting the cheaper model. In any case, early adopters will choose up the upper capability mannequin of their droves, as a result of they at all times do.
However then I’m slowly coming round to the likelihood that it won’t really come out in any respect. Already the second coming of the Steam Machine feels fraught, and with element pricing displaying no indicators of plateauing simply but, I may positively see Valve placing the mini PC on indefinite hiatus. Then possibly Valve will retire the Steam Machine title solely as a cursed factor.
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