Valve confirms Steam Machine price and release details have been delayed by exploding component prices
Steam Machine and Steam Frame are still planned for the first half of the year
Valve has confirmed the rapidly increasing price of PC components has delayed its announcement of Steam Machine and Steam Frame pricing and release dates.
In a blog post published on Wednesday, Valve said it still planned to release its console-like PC and VR headset in the first half of this year, but that it would need more time “to land on concrete pricing and launch dates that we can confidently announce”.
“When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now,” the post reads. “But the memory and storage shortages you’ve likely heard about across the industry have rapidly increased since then.
“The limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing (especially around Steam Machine and Steam Frame).
“Our goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year has not changed. But we have work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates that we can confidently announce, being mindful of how quickly the circumstances around both of those things can change. We will keep you updated as much as we can as we finalize those plans as soon as possible.”
Steam Machine was announced in November with a 2026 launch window and no official pricing details. However, Valve has said that, “if you build a PC from parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that’s the general price window that we aim to be at.”
It was estimated that, based on the components inside Steam Machine, it could retail for around $700.
However, since its announcement, memory prices have increased significantly worldwide, with DRAM contract prices reportedly increasing by over 170% year-over-year.
This increase in costs has been driven by a huge agreement signed by Samsung and SK in October, which will supply OpenAI with nearly half of the world’s DRAM output for its Stargate data centers.
According to reports, the resulting price hikes and shortages have left companies without a large stock of components, reportedly including Microsoft, exposed.
