Valve told Eurogamer that the Steam Machine costs “significantly more” than the company had hoped to charge at launch, and it also hasn’t managed to manufacture as many units of the new console-like PC as it originally planned.
Valve shared this information with me during an interview held before the Steam Machine price announcement, ahead of a release date that remains somewhat unclear today. The key point is that even the Steam Machine’s cheapest storage option tops $1,000—£879 here—and if you buy it bundled with a Steam Controller, the total comes to £938, mirroring how people typically purchase a console together with its controller.
By comparison, Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro—the most expensive console, and one with more raw power than the Steam Machine—costs £790. This is far from the “$400 with a controller” idea that people were throwing around after Valve revealed the Steam Machine last November.
The higher price comes down to the ongoing shortage of parts, a problem worsened by demand for AI data center components. Valve even addressed this issue right after publishing the price, seemingly anticipating the question: “Our initial target for the price of Steam Machine is no longer feasible.”
Valve didn’t specify what the original target price was, though engineer Yazan Aldehayyat explained that the current cost is now “considerably higher.” He said: “It’s challenging because I don’t believe we ever truly had an official price or anything documented like that – I think we had some concepts – but it’s really tough to quantify.”
“We recognized the market trends of rising prices, but I don’t think anyone truly anticipated or predicted the magnitude of the increase, which is still ongoing” -Yazan Aldehayyat
At this point, Lawrence Yang, a user interface designer for Steam Machine (and previously for Steam Deck and HTC Vive), stepped in to suggest that Steam Deck offered a helpful reference for the pricing Valve was considering. Aldehayyat agreed, saying: “That’s roughly a rough estimate of what it could have been.”
To add context, the 512GB OLED Steam Deck is priced at £649, while the 1TB OLED Steam Deck costs £779. In contrast, the 512GB Steam Machine is listed at £879, and even without a 1TB model, the 2TB Steam Machine runs £1,149.
In its blog post, Valve said it began securing components for the Steam Machine in 2023, before the component crunch intensified. At the time, though, it assumed prices would fall—an expectation it described as “understanding rooted in the many years of data we all possess regarding the evolution of PC hardware prices.” Unfortunately, that expectation didn’t happen. In other words, Valve moved too late.
How aware was Valve of the component pricing squeeze when it announced the Steam Machine in November? The memory and storage situation was already clearly problematic: that year had already seen multiple console price hikes, along with a long list of tariff-related complications. It was significant enough that I wrote a report on it, where a group of specialists concluded that “the role of the console is transitioning.”
“I believe we were aware of the market trends of pricing increasing,” Valve’s Aldehayyat responded, “but I don’t think anyone truly expected or foreseen the extent to which they would escalate, and are still escalating.”
“It wasn’t a matter of predicting or not predicting whether the market was rising; it’s really about determining how much it would increase, and I would argue that no one truly foresaw the extent to which prices would surge – definitely not when we began working on it, certainly not by November. No one anticipated it – unless you work at Samsung or Hynix. It’s just far more than anyone genuinely expected it to be.”
Another impact of the parts crunch is supply itself. As Valve’s blog notes, launch timing and quantities are affected as well. That’s why there’s no “It’s available now – come get it!” release date. Instead, Valve is using a less transparent rollout in which it will start shipping Steam Machines from June 29. The precise number Valve will have ready to distribute is still unknown.
When I asked about the availability figures, Lawrence Yang told me: “I don’t believe we’re going to be disclosing numbers today.” He continued, “But I can certainly say it is less than we had hoped to produce, factoring in both the cost of components and what would make sense, along with the availability of components. Some items are simply not available or have exceedingly long lead times.” Those items, if you’re wondering, are RAM and storage.
Aldehayyat added: “Our sourcing team is working tirelessly to procure as many parts as possible. I believe they’re doing an excellent job, and we are continuously enhancing supply – there’s a lot of progress in that area – so we’re striving to get as many units into the hands of those who desire them as possible. We are optimistic that conditions will improve as the year progresses, so we don’t want to discourage anyone.
“We were certainly hoping to make it more accessible for more individuals, but even at this price level, we still feel it’s a worthwhile investment, comparable to other similar offerings” -Yazan Aldehayyat
“We are manufacturing as swiftly as possible and they are being delivered to us as rapidly as we can. I can’t recall the exact schedule, but more and more units will be arriving as the year advances. And as I mentioned earlier, we’re still working to enhance supply, and as we receive additional reservations, we will undoubtedly aim to produce even more.”
Still, one major uncertainty Valve is dealing with right now is demand. It’s not clear how the higher price will affect how appealing the new Steam Machine seems to shoppers. Is the cost too steep to win over buyers? Will people decide to build their own PCs instead? Or will they stick with traditional consoles? Those questions won’t be answered until actual orders for the Steam Machine begin coming in.
“I’m very eager to observe how individuals respond to the price,”
Yang noted, “At this point, we’re living in a noticeably different period than just a few months ago. I feel like people have become increasingly aware of the [component shortage], at least among those paying close attention to hardware. Costs are climbing, inventory is running low, and there’s a broader shift taking place that touches everyone. For that reason, I’d like folks to understand the situation.”
“For some buyers, the price may still come as a surprise, and that’s totally fine. Yes, it’s higher than we originally planned. Still, when you look at what you can build for the same amount of money, we think it’s fairly comparable—plus we believe we’re giving you more value through the compact design and the extra features we’ve built in.”
Aldehayyat added, “Even at this price, it competes well with other machines that use similar specs, especially pre-built options. Of course, we always try to keep our hardware as budget-friendly as we can, because we truly want to bring as many people as possible into the gaming community—particularly those who are highly focused on cost. We had hoped to lower the barrier even further, but even with pricing at this level, we still feel it’s a strong deal, roughly matching what you’d expect from comparable devices.”
Valve’s Steam Machine is a compact PC shaped like a small cube—roughly about the same size as a square PC fan. It’s built to be a close-to-console experience, with a plug-and-play approach similar to game consoles. That said, it takes more work than simply placing a PC inside a small enclosure and making sure it stays quiet and well cooled. Despite that effort, the end result is expensive compared to the performance it delivers, which is largely on the level of a PS5—so we’ve put together a dedicated Steam Machine tech Q&A covering all of that.
So, is the idea of enjoying Steam’s huge game library at home—while still retaining the flexibility that comes with a PC—enough to get people to part with several hundred pounds for a Steam Machine? That’s the central question, and it’s one Chris set out to answer in his Steam Machine review after spending a few days with it. Elsewhere on the site, you can find everything we’ve gathered about Steam Machine, including the specs, the pricing, and how to buy one.