PlayStation & Xbox have opened the window for the Steam Machine Release!
If you know Valve they are a company that works on their own concept of time, but if they can get the wheels spinning now is the time to move on the Steam Machine.
Due to the RAM-pocalypse all manufacturers’ consoles are either going up in price [Nintendo Raised the price of the Switch OLED] or raising prices of everything else [Nintendo is now raising prices of accessories and games to keep the Switch 2 price down]. Video games are becoming unattainable on consoles for the masses.
Anyone familiar with gaming on consoles knows in the past we normally see price decreases and more budget friendly versions being introduced this late into the generation. This is the first time I can remember when people that bought day 1 are actually seeing their console appreciate in value.
Legion Go 2
This doesn’t only count your traditional gaming devices either. An already expensive Steam Deck competitor, the $1349USD 8” OLED 32GB Z2E Legion Go 2 PC handheld, just had a price increase to $1999USD.
This was followed up with an increase on the base model of the Legion Go 2 16GB Z2 increasing to $1499USD. This leaves to question if the new Legion Go 2 32GB Z2E running Steam will release at the announced $1199USD or if it will see the same $650USD as the Windows version to release at $1849USD?
Steam Deck
Though we haven’t seen any price movements on the Base Steam Deck OLED currently coming in at $549USD, we have seen inventory issues caused by the RAM-pocalypse making the handheld infrequently available. This on top of the $399USD model being discontinued.
This really hurts the “Just get a Steam Deck Bro” talking point when the barrier to entry has seen a $150USD price increase. Don’t get me wrong the OLED Steam Deck is a far superior device in my eyes.
Xbox Series
The Xbox Series consoles have been going through a bit of an identity crisis. With the Xbox Series S releasing at $299USD and the Series X at $499USD, they have seen 2 smaller incremental increases since launch.
The prices today for the Xbox Series S start at $399USD with the most expensive being the Series X Galaxy edition for $799USD. Prior to Sony’s recent price increases the Xbox was the most expensive and unsurprisingly had the lowest sales volume in the console industry.
We also saw Xbox GamePass see a 50% price increase to $29.99USD while also selling their exclusive games on the PlayStation 5 platform, making them no longer exclusives. Microsoft did however see fairly solid results selling games on the PS5 platform as well through ports to PC GamePass [$16.49USD] on Windows and retail on Steam.
Nintendo Switch 1 / 2
Nintendo first delayed and then released the Switch 2 for $449USD, being the most expensive console Nintendo has ever sold. The Switch OLED which launched at $349USD [over the V1 release model at $299USD] can now be picked up for $399USD [retail w/out sales], only $50 less than a naked Switch 2 which has a big LCD display and a lot more capabilities.
As mentioned earlier, Nintendo is doing everything they can to not raise the Switch 2 prices now as they are the lowest priced gaming console on market today. Where Nintendo is making it up however is an increase in branded accessory prices as well as software [w/ new $10USD price increases on physical games].
PlayStation 5
Sony had done a price increase in 2025 to the PlayStation 5 but nothing as drastic is what we had seen from Xbox. Sony did also quietly lower the memory on the internal storage from 1TB to 825GB to save themselves money as well. Anyone into gaming would probably agree that keeping the price down has helped them to win this console generation, it’s definitely not the few exclusive games Sony has released from their studios.
Sony has been making some changes to pull customers back to their platform, including but not exclusively a decision to not do PC releases of their popular single player franchises on PC. Seeing as this generation has been multiplayer focused for Sony that’s not a ton of titles but it’s the big ones.
I think Sony is afraid of both Steam and Xbox going into the next generation. Allowing their games even with a delay to be on PC means they will be playable on the Xbox Helix [next gen project name] and the Steam Machine.
They have to prepare to compete with their 2 biggest competitors bringing PC gaming to the living room. Though Sony is said to be releasing a handheld alongside the PS6, it will likely be locked down to the PlayStation architecture and not an OS like Windows or Linux.
We have to also keep in mind that Sony knows there is a generational game release that will move consoles coming this year that will not get a PC port for possibly years to come. That game is GTA6 and Sony is setup to sell a lot of consoles to anyone who wants to play the game which will help wash their current losses due to their price increase. Gamers have been waiting for years for this game that will likely sell for $100 and to get the best experience they will need a PS5 Pro.
How much has Sony raised their prices since release? Let’s take a look at all 3 models Sony has to offer in their PS5 line, keep in mind for about $100USD you can add a disc drive to the digital and Pro versions of the PlayStation 5.
The Sony consoles released at the following prices: Base at $499USD and Digital $399USD in November 2020. The price of these consoles as of April 2 2026 are $649 for the Base PS5 and $599 for the Digital edition. That’s a $150USD and $200USD increase respectively.
Unfortunately the best way to play GTA6 is going to be the PlayStation 5 Pro which also has seen the most drastic price increase. The PS5 Pro launched November 2024 for an eye watering price of $699USD and has seen a recent increase to $899USD, being that largest increase of the three options.
Sony has also been nice enough to raise the price of the PlayStation Portal [handheld PS5 streaming device], their highest volume accessory ever from the release price of $199USD [kinda spendy for what you get] to $249USD [not a good value]. This handheld device offers streaming from your PlayStation 5 as well as limited cloud gaming for users with a Premium PlayStation account. No expandable storage, emulation or native gameplay on the PlayStation Portal.
Steam Machine
This brings us to the Steam Machine from Valve. Though you can use your Steam Deck through a dock to play in your living room [in a Switch style experience], the Steam Machine will bring you a more console experience that is upgradable to your tv.
Sony is concerned about the Steam Machine taking their customers as Valve is very customer focused and Sony ported much of their 2025 games library over to Steam. I think there are many like me who have picked up their Sony titles this generation on Steam to play on my growing number of PC gaming devices and handhelds.
The other kicker here is the Sony library being playable through Steam will likely mean you can play them on the new Xbox Project Helix console as it’s also going to be a PC to play on your TV. Sure Xbox ported their library to PlayStation but Sony doesn’t want their library on Xbox or the Steam Machine.
We haven’t seen pricing or a release date yet for the Steam Machine thanks to the fluid situation during this RAM-pocalypse. Valve has committed to releasing the Steam Machine before the end of 2026, but prices seem to keep going up.
Valve needs to release the Steam Machine right now or they need to hold on maybe for years. This memory shortage isn’t going anywhere for at least a couple years [though OpenAI did just run short on buying 40% of all the memory available that put us in this memory shortage].
I’ve said since the beginning when other reviewers were convinced the Steam Machine will release at $499USD that the base model will likely start at $749USD. That was before we really got hit hard with the memory shortage but I think Valve can still start at the $749 price point.
The more powerful and probably more popular unit will likely sell for around $999USD and maybe even more as component costs are going up. The good news is as console manufacturers are raising the barrier to entry with their consoles, the Steam Machine is still appealing at my estimated pricing.
Thoughts
If they want to release this device the other reason they need to get it out now as I stated earlier is that the game GTA6 will not be available on PC at launch. If they don’t get it out now, customers are going to use the money they have saved since last year to purchase a PS5 Pro instead of a Steam Machine.
If this happens it will be the second failure to launch for the Steam Machine [Valve tried to launch a Steam Machine nearly a decade ago that never got off the ground]. The other problem with waiting until next year to move units is going to be the release of the Xbox Helix and PlayStation 6 around holiday time 2027.
The Steam Machine is already slightly under powered in comparison to other other livingroom options. The longer Valve waits here to less value gamers will get from the Steam Machine. There is also the matter of the miniPC solutions many in the tech space myself included have put together running SteamOS that already rival the new device for less.
Sony opened the Window with their price hikes Valve, now it’s time to get your box on the market.
Are you going to pickup the new Steam Machine at launch? How much are you willing to pay for it?
While writing this article it was found that Valve has started receiving inventory of the new Steam Controller. Does this mean mean the Steam Machine is close or is Valve going to sell the controller separately ahead of launch?
GameOn
CellPhish
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