If you have been waiting for the release date announcement for the Steam Machine this might be a frustrating read…
Today Valve tried to answer the most asked question about the Steam Machine, Steam Frame and their new controller on the Steam News Blog. There answer made me feel like I’m back in the military… stand bye to stand bye.
Steams answer to these burning questions is as follows:
If you didn’t want to read all that, the answer is exactly what we and other tech sites have been talking about for months. Market conditions causing unexpected increases in RAM, DRAM, Memory and whatever else AI eats up is causing the Steam Machine/Frame/Controller to be delayed and they are struggling to lock down a price.
Anyone who has tried building a PC in the last 6 months has already been feeling this pain. Some analysts are saying these prices will continue to increase until late 2027 or once the AI bubble bursts… whichever comes first.
Release
Valve is still confident that they will be able to release their new equipment in the first half of the year but wanted the pricing and date to be announced by now. This isn’t the first time this has happened to Valve.
10 years ago when releasing the original Steam Machine they had issues with both Valve and their partners getting the Steam Machine off the ground due to equipment and software difficulties. If memory serves me right Alienware was the first company to market.
Some Good News
There was a trinket of good news in this announcement, Valve will be releasing the CAD files for the Steam Machine front plates. This will be great for anyone who has a 3D printer who wants to make their own and any companies who are looking to make those awesome e-ink display faceplates.
I haven’t been this excited for a faceplate since my old Nokia phone in the late 90’s.
[edit] Ram will also be upgradable on the Steam Machine. This is great news because it was initially thought to be embedded. With RAM and SSD both being upgradable the base model becomes more enticing.
Pricing
It’s getting really hard to even keep track of the RAM market right now but prices are only going up… daily. I for now am not going to change my predictions on pricing.
Valve said the Steam Machine would launch at the price of a similarly equipped consumer PC. Everyone thought I overshot my guess but RAM prices were already going up when they made product announcements.
My price guesses [I know you likely won’t agree]
- Base Steam Machine $749.99
- Top Steam Machine $999.99
- Steam Frame $699 [Steam Index is $999 with headset, controllers and the Base. Needs to be close enough to Meta Quest]
- Steam Controller $69.99 [might take a small loss here]
You are welcome to disagree with my pricing predictions. I typically price out handhelds which prices are far easier to predict, but it’s fun to try and figure this out.
As far as when this will release, not soon enough. I would guess since they said first half pre-orders will start by no later than late June with delivery in July-August.
I’m going to be excited when all this releases if for no other reason than to no longer need to read analysts reports.
This is the first time I’ve followed a Valve release and all I can saw is, what an awesome community.
GameOn
CellPhish
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