Valve has shared an update on the development of its upcoming Steam-branded hardware, including Steam engineand revealed that there has been an unfortunate delay in announcing the pricing and release date of the device. However, despite these issues, Valve seems confident that the Steam Machine and its other hardware will still launch in the originally promised time frame.
In November 2025, Valve revealed that many of the rumors of new hardware coming from the company were legitimate, revealing a new Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and a brand new Steam Frame VR headset. The three devices immediately sparked excitement among PC gamers and fans of Valve's products, and those potential customers have been waiting for more information ever since, but now problems are on the horizon.
Valve Comments on Steam Machine Power
A Valve engineer comments on how powerful the upcoming Steam Machine will be and reveals the reasons behind its technical specifications.
Steam announces pricing delay and release date reveal
On February 4th, Steam officially announced that three pieces of Steam Hardware are still on the way, but there have been some hiccups since the announcement. Valve explains that they originally intended for pricing and release dates to be revealed at this point, but that was before the hardware shortage became as severe as it is now. However, Valve adds that it still intends to ship the Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller during the first half of 2026. It added that the company “has work to do” to determine specific prices and schedules, particularly for the Steam Frame and Steam Machine, due to market and pricing variability.
Steam hardware is affected by supply and demand
Largely due to the demand created by the number of AI companies and data centers, certain types of chips, storage and RAM are difficult to obtain, and many that are still available for purchase have seen their prices increase due to reduced supply. Since the Steam Machine is essentially a PC-console hybrid, it needs essentially the same parts that would go into equivalent devices. PC gamers have already seen the price of components such as RAM and GPU skyrocket, and recently SSDs have also been affected. Some gamers have begun to express concerns about these flaws affecting the Steam Machine in the time since its announcement, and it seems that those thoughts were valid.
The rise of AI has created enough hardware shortages to potentially affect non-Valve gaming as well. Some reports suggest that the increased costs could lead to delays for other consoles from the PlayStation and Xbox, while the prices of everything from existing consoles to TVs could potentially rise. Those looking to build or upgrade a gaming PC right now are already feeling the pinch as Nvidia GPU prices rise along with other essential components.
While Valve seems confident in the timing of its releases, players may still want to prepare. Fans have pointed out “Valve Time”, a trend where Valve sees delays in the launch of their games or devices. However, with the market being so volatile right now, even if Valve keeps its promise to launch the device in the first half of 2026, the price may be more than some fans can handle right now.
Valve fans react to the news
Most of those who have shared their thoughts with Valve on the official forums seem concerned but optimistic. Many thanked Valve for remaining open and transparent about what was going on. Some expressed hope that Valve might consider releasing the Steam driver independently of the other two devices, believing that the driver likely uses fewer affected components and could potentially be released sooner. Others have expressed frustration and anger, but much of it has been focused on AI and its impact on the gaming industry as a whole, rather than taking it out on Valve for a situation that appears to be largely out of its control.
Source: Steam
