While the PC world has been watching prices for RAM, hard drives, and SSDs spike almost every week, Valve is still insisting that the Steam Machine is going to be released this summer. The problem is that Valve still has not told anyone what the thing is going to cost.
And that is where my concern kicks in.
There will be two versions of the Steam Machine, with the main difference being storage capacity. One model will include 512GB of storage, while the other will include 2TB. Outside of that, both versions share the same core hardware. That sounds great on paper, but with how expensive PC components have become, I still have my doubts about where Valve can realistically price this thing.
We have already seen this hit plenty of gaming hardware. Both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S prices have gone up, Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 has reached absurd pricing territory, and even Valve’s own Steam Deck OLED was not immune. The 512GB and 1TB Steam Deck OLED models are now sitting at $789 and $949, respectively, which is a massive jump from where they used to be.
Then, of course, there is the other big unknown: performance. No one outside of Valve even knows how powerful the Steam Machine will be. And given that the price is likely going to be up there, I feel like Valve should be dropping some hints right about now. Are we talking PlayStation 4? Xbox Series S? Something better? Where does this thing fit?
So, yes, seeing all of this gives me pause when it comes to the Steam Machine. And forgive me if this sounds like I am rehashing prior articles, but if Valve is determined to release this thing during the summer, it really needs to come out and tell people where the price is going to land. Mainly so people like me can stop writing these pieces and start writing about how great the thing actually is.
Look, do not get me wrong. I am not against the Steam Machine. I am one of its biggest fans. I want this thing to succeed. A small form factor PC that runs perhaps the best operating system around, SteamOS, that we do not have to build ourselves and can just chill in the living room space? That is genius, and I imagine plenty of people will want one.
However, I also know that RAM pricing has done a hatchet job on the PC space. Not just the PC gaming space, either. My real-life job is as a server engineer, and I have seen firsthand how this is affecting the enterprise world. Servers, storage devices, and memory upgrades have jumped hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. And as someone who dabbles in home labs so I can keep learning my craft, I have personally felt it while trying to buy RAM and hard drives for my NAS.
So, forgive me if I am skeptical about the Steam Machine price. If Valve manages to get this thing around the $1,000 mark, which feels more likely by the day, I still think it risks pricing itself out of making a major impact. Will it sell? Sure. There are plenty of people who want a SteamOS-powered living room PC, me included. But it will not hit the same way it would if Valve could bring it in cheaper.
And if it lands closer to $1,300 or $1,400, Valve can forget about this being a mainstream play unless it has a trick or two up its sleeve.
So come on, Valve. Tell us the price. We can handle it.
Probably.
