Steam Machine price: will it be affordable? It's not looking good

One week ago today, Valve unveiled a trio of new hardware products: the Steam Machine, the new Steam Controller, and the Steam Frame VR headset. The internet has run away with the excitement of this reveal, with many speculating that this is a major sign for the inevitable reveal of Half-Life 3. The latest rumor was that the long-awaited game would be revealed tomorrow, so we will have to wait and see. Perhaps the biggest question on everyone’s mind is how much these new products will cost, particularly the Steam Machine. Is this a device that will be competitive with other consoles, like those from Xbox or PlayStation? I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

Will the new Steam Machine be affordable? It’s not looking good

Steam is, without a doubt, the most popular PC gaming storefront. This is evident in a recent survey that found 72% of developers consider Steam a monopoly. It’s only with the Steam Deck in 2022 that Valve has managed to grab a foothold in the hardware side of gaming. These days, many PC gamers have extensive Steam libraries, which makes adopting a handheld device, like the Steam Deck, much more appealing than starting fresh with another device. After the reveal of the Steam Machine, some fans believe it could have the same effect, essentially convincing a section of PC gamers to finally make the jump to a console experience, since they can take all their PC games with them.

But one thing that these theories seem to overlook is that the Steam Machine is much more than the average console. It essentially functions as a normal PC. It has a desktop mode, and users can tinker and change things as they like. This is something neither a PlayStation 5 nor an Xbox Series X can offer. Those consoles can be subsidized by software sales, giving them a more competitive price. There’s not much you can do with those consoles other than play games. But if Valve decides to sell a Steam Machine for just $500, undercutting the other consoles, it could make this a great deal to buy as a PC, even if you never plan to buy a Steam game.

This is backed up by Linus Tech Tips, who visited Valve and went hands-on with the new Steam Machine. In a video covering the new device, Linus touched on price. Apparently, “[Valve] said that while they expect it to be very competitively priced with a PC, that it will be priced like a PC.” Valve, of course, doesn’t explain exactly why, but Linus hypothesizes that “[Valve] recognizes that the Steam Machine is a full-fledged PC, capable of being used as a full-fledged PC.” Thus, there’s no guarantee of subsidization with games, even with something like Half-Life 3.

However, this is all still speculation. There’s no telling exactly how user-friendly the Steam Machine’s PC functionality will be compared to other PCs. Maybe there is a good argument for a lower price, but it’s not looking good. Since Valve is aiming for an early 2026 release date for the Steam Machine, it shouldn’t be long before we learn more. Maybe even tomorrow.

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