Valve has the potential to take over the console world with the Steam Machine, or at least be a serious competitor to PlayStation and Xbox. Sony remains on top of the world, all thanks to a market-leading console and a valuable line-up of exclusive games, while Xbox lags behind as it invents a new future where hardware is no longer its primary focus. As for Nintendo, it does its own thing and enjoys it, so let's ignore them for now.
But if Valve fails to price this upcoming hardware release perfectly, it will remain a relatively niche product that will only fuel the passions of existing hardcore PC gamers. And judging by recent comments in interviews, it will bring consumers closer to the asking price of the PS5 Pro, or perhaps even higher than the affordable price of the Xbox Series S. What the price might be remains unclear as Valve continues to refine the release model, but I doubt it will directly compete with existing consoles. Chances are it will cost a little, or even a lot, more…
How Much Will Valve's Steam Machine Cost?
On a recent episode of The Friends Per Second Podcast with Jake Baldin and SkillUp, Valve's Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais were asked about the current pricing plans for the Steam Machine and how it will exist in the current gaming environment. While their answers were intentionally vague to avoid revealing specifics, it's still interesting:
“I think if you build a PC out of parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that's the general price window we're trying to hit,” Griffais explained.
“Ideally, we'd be pretty competitive with it and have a pretty good business, but we're working to improve it, and right now it's hard to have a really good idea of what the price is going to be because there's a lot of different things that fluctuate.”
When asked if Valve would be willing to subsidize Steam Machine parts to sell units at a lower price, Griffais said the company has no intention of taking a loss on the hardware: “No, it's more in line with what you might expect from the current PC market,” he said.
“Our goal is for it to be a good deal at that level of performance. And then you have features that are actually really hard to build if you're building your own gaming PC from parts. Things like the small form factor and I think the noise level that we've achieved or lack of is really impressive and we're excited for people to find out how quiet this thing is.”
Shape, performance, noise level and many other factors will play a role in how much the Steam Machine ends up selling for, and right now Valve is keeping its cards awfully close to its chest. I can't blame Valve for wanting to control messaging, but I'd really like to know if I should hold off on buying a new gaming PC and wait for the Steam Machine, or if I'd rather be right now.
The prices of PlayStation and Xbox consoles have increased in the past year in response to a number of external factors, and a potential drop also does not seem likely. So the Steam Machine appears in a market where gamers are looking for more reliable alternatives, and Valve is in a position to offer that and potentially expose itself to a whole new audience.
I'm a console gamer at heart and only play on PC these days when my work life requires it, but over the years I've built up a huge Steam library that I'd love to try out in a new form. If the opportunity presented itself to experience it from the comfort of my couch with a device that is not only a capable console but also a PC in its own right, I would pull the trigger in seconds. However, it seems to be targeting people who want to build a PC but don't know how, rather than trying to lure console gamers with one system after another. Just like the Steam Deck isn't a direct replacement for the Nintendo Switch, the Steam Machine isn't a direct replacement for your PS5 either.
Does the Steam Machine want to compete with other consoles?
“More in line with what you'd expect from the current PC market” tells me that Valve isn't necessarily interested in competing with PlayStation and Xbox either. As Steam Deck has already proven, there are millions of PC gamers who are already more than willing to expand their hardware catalog and experience games in new ways, but the PC still remains at the center of their ecosystem. Then there are people like me who were able to rekindle their love for the platform thanks to a portable console that understood I wasn't interested in sitting at my desk and experiencing things I couldn't play anywhere else.
The Steam Machine could emerge as a serious contender in the console market and still do right by the Valve faithful, though perhaps the company isn't interested in taking market share away from the industry leaders when it already knows it's unstoppable. There's a reason Machine, Frame, and the new controller were all announced on the same day in such a casual way, because Valve knows it has a built-in audience that will pick up on literally anything it releases, thanks to the same curiosity and determination, plus trust in the hardware brand.
You can use the Steam Machine as a console under your TV or a computer next to your desk and it will likely remain effective no matter what, and this huge number of usage scenarios will demand a high price. It will probably work better for you than a regular console that has been on the market for several years. I'll be there day one, but only time will tell if this hardware can change video games forever.
- Mark
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Valve
- Operating system
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SteamOS 3 (based on the architecture)
- Processor
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Semi-custom AMD Zen 4 6C / 12T up to 4.8 GHz, 30W TDP
- Original release date
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2026
