- Primary Subject: Steam Machine
- Key Update: Valve has delayed pricing and launch details due to volatile memory and storage component costs.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: February 5, 2026
- Quick Answer: Valve hasn’t revealed Steam Machine pricing yet because memory and SSD costs are unstable, and it wants PC-aligned pricing instead of subsidized console-style losses.
Valve’s Steam Machine ambitions face a familiar 2020s issue — PC component pricing never stays stable long enough to lock in a price.
Valve had planned to confirm pricing and a launch window, but says both remain uncertain due to unexpected swings in memory and storage component costs and supply.
The company isn’t scrapping the idea or backing away from it, but it is holding off on finalizing figures until it can do so confidently, instead of announcing a price that could quickly become outdated or unsustainable.
How Are Memory and SSD Prices Affecting Steam Machine?
The uncertainty mainly comes from rising and unstable memory and storage pricing, with Valve highlighting industry-wide supply strain that makes locking in production costs months in advance a challenge.
If the price of essential parts like memory and storage won’t stay stable, locking in a price early is basically a gamble.
Valve’s messaging shows it would rather delay a price reveal than backtrack later, especially for hardware meant to sit in the living room and compete in a price-sensitive space.
Is Valve Pricing the Steam Machine Like a Console?
Valve is avoiding the traditional console model of selling hardware at a loss and is instead aiming to price the Steam Machine in line with what comparable PC components would cost.
That means expectations of ultra-low, heavily subsidized pricing aren’t aligned with how Valve views the device.
The goal is value relative to equivalent PC performance, not undercutting the entire PC market just to hit a console-style entry price.
As a result, outside projections usually put the Steam Machine beyond normal console launch pricing, landing somewhere in the mid-hundreds of dollars and increasing depending on the setup, with higher memory or storage options raising the ceiling.
Although the numbers are only estimates, they match Valve’s positioning of the device as a prebuilt, living-room-friendly PC that feels console-like to use but still follows the realities of PC hardware costs.
Regarding timing, Valve is still referring to a target launch window instead of a firm date, noting that pricing and shipping decisions won’t be locked in until component costs show enough stability.
The company has also indicated it will keep using official channels to update buyers as those plans solidify, suggesting this is an issue of market conditions, not a change in overall product direction.
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