Valve software engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais stated on the Friends Per Second podcast that the company’s upcoming Steam Machine will carry a price tag comparable to a custom PC with specs delivering equivalent performance.
Griffais responded to a question about potential subsidies by saying:
“No, it’s more in line with what you might expect from the current PC market.”
He added, “If you build a PC from parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that’s the general price window that we aim to be at.”
Aiming for profitability, Valve will not subsidize hardware prices to compete directly with consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, nor will it sell at a loss.
The device features a semi-custom AMD Zen 4 processor with six cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.8 GHz at a 30-watt thermal design power limit, paired with a semi-custom RDNA 3 graphics processor boasting 28 compute units clocked to 2.45 GHz at 110 watts, 16 GB of DDR5 system memory, and 8 GB of GDDR6 video memory.
Storage options include 512 GB or 2 TB NVMe SSDs alongside a microSD slot.
Valve hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat described the pricing as “really competitive” relative to assembling a matching PC.
In the podcast, Griffais highlighted value from the six-inch cube’s small form factor, near-silent operation, HDMI-CEC support for TV remote control, and one-button controller power-on, along with four-antenna Bluetooth for multiple controllers.
We (after reading 10s of analysts) peg the starting price at $700 to $800 as a “good deal”, potentially climbing to $900 amid Samsung’s DRAM increases and small form factor premiums. This contrasts with the Steam Deck, where Valve absorbed losses to expand its user base.
Gabe Newell’s owned Valve first unveiled Steam Machines in 2012 as licensed hardware from partners including Alienware and Falcon Northwest.
Those systems debuted in late 2015, starting at $499 but struggling with middling performance akin to then-current midrange PCs, limited game support, and no exclusive titles, leading to quick discontinuation.
The new Steam Machine runs SteamOS, ships in early 2026 alongside a revised Steam Controller and Steam Frame VR headset, and supports any operating system installation.
Preorders are currently unavailable due to delays in setting the final price, which is affected by fluctuating component costs and possible tariff changes. However, a price announcement for Valve Steam Machine is expected early next year.
