If you haven’t been paying attention, or if you missed our recent article on the Steam Machine pricing, Valve’s small form factor PC is now in the hands of outlets and content creators. But for people like you and me, we’ll have to actually pay for it, and sadly, that process is a bit more complicated than it probably needed to be.
Why? Well, I’ll explain.
Currently, you can head over to Steam and purchase, er, I mean, join a waitlist for the Steam Machine. However, it seems Valve still hasn’t learned its lesson and is making things harder than they should be for people who want to buy one. Instead of simply letting people place an order, Valve has decided to put everyone who wants a Steam Machine into a one-time randomized reservation process.
Of course, there are a few requirements before you can even get in line. You’ll need a Steam account in good standing, you must have made a purchase on Steam prior to April 27, 2026, and Valve is limiting signups to one per household. Valve says it will use payment methods, shipping addresses, and other information to weed out duplicate entries, so don’t expect to game the system.
Here’s the Steam Machine pricing, just in case you wanted to see how much it all costs, again.
| Steam Machine Versions | Price |
|---|---|
| Steam Machine 512GB | $1,049 |
| Steam Machine 512GB with Steam Controller | $1,128 |
| Steam Machine 2TB | $1,349 |
| Steam Machine 2TB with Steam Controller | $1,428 |
If you meet all of that, then you can sign up before the reservation window closes on June 25, 2026, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. After that, Valve will randomize the reservation order, and those lucky enough to be selected will start receiving purchase emails on June 29, 2026. Once that email shows up, you’ll have 72 hours to complete the purchase, assuming you have the money ready to go.
If you aren’t picked, then you’ll be placed on a waitlist based on the model and region you signed up for. Valve currently has separate regions for North America, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Australia. For those in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong, you’ll need to check with Valve’s official distributor for those regions, Komodo.
So, good luck to everyone trying to get a Steam Machine, because this is going to be a mess. Or, you know, you could just build something around the same price and skip the lottery entirely.
