Valve’s Steam Engine: How Much It Will Cost, If It Comes With Anything

Valve dipped its toe into the hardware business when it released The Steam Deck handheld back in 2022. This past November, the company unveiled the extended hardware system that includes a VR headset, a controller and a living room game console called the Steam Machine.

The Steam Machine is Valve’s gaming PC, built into a nearly 6-inch cube designed to plug into a living room TV. The aim is to bring a simplified PC gaming experience to a wider audience. While the Steam Machines’ hardware makes them slightly more powerful than the standard PS5 or Xbox Series X, the company doesn’t see the Steam Machine as a direct competitor to those consoles.

Here’s everything we know about the Steam Machine.

When is Steam Machine coming out?

Valve has not yet given a firm release date for the Steam Machine, but last November, when they showed off the new hardware, Valve staff said it would arrive in early 2026. On Feb. 4, Valve has shared its first major update about the Steam Machine since it was revealed, and it looks like it’s going to be a little delayed.

“Our goal to ship all three products in the first half of the year remains unchanged,” the company said. “But we have work to do to arrive at concrete pricing and launch dates that we can announce with confidence, bearing in mind how quickly conditions around both of those things can change.”

This could mean that Valve was expecting to release the Steam machine in March, but the company is now changing it to maybe a May or June launch.

Can I pre-order a Steam Machine?

There are no pre-orders available for Steam Machine yet. When pre-orders are available, they will likely be available on the Steam Machine hardware page.

If Valve does pre-orders, the company may have a plan to release consoles on time, like it did with the Steam Deck. With Steam Deck, you can pre-order the device, and based on when the order was sent, you will get a set time for its release and when you will receive it.

Valve also required anyone who wanted to pre-order a Steam Deck to have a Steam account. This will prevent scalpers from ordering multiple devices at once, which may be the case with the Steam device.

How much will a Steam machine cost?

This is the biggest question about the Steam Machine, and for good reason. Valve said the console will be priced the same as a gaming PC with the same capabilities. There have been speculations that this will put the price around $600 to $800.

However, the global RAM shortage continues to drive up the price of memory. This would mean that the Steam Machine could cost $1,000 or more, which would be a tough sell for many and make it less competitive compared to the PlayStation 5 or a standard gaming PC.

Valve said on Feb. 4 that it is still trying to find the Steam Machine value.

“The limited availability and rising prices of these key components mean we have to revisit our exact shipping plan and pricing (especially around the Steam engine and Steam Frame),” the company said.

What are the features of Steam Machine?

Valve has released the specs for the Steam machine, but on the hardware page, there is a note at the bottom that says, “some specifications are subject to change prior to availability.” It’s rare to see that kind of disclaimer, indicating that if pricing or a lack of RAM makes a console more expensive, Valve might make changes to keep the price attractive.

What else is different about Steam Machine?

Valve does more than make a small gaming PC. The company offers some features that are not available on PS5, Switch 2 or Xbox Series consoles.

For starters, there are removable face plates for the Steam machine. This is similar to the Xbox 360 faceplates, which offer a bit of customization for the console.

Steam devices are being developed. You can expand the storage by adding a microSD card to the appropriate slot in the console or by replacing the solid state drive. There is also an option to upgrade the RAM, but that will take a few steps compared to the storage swap.

The Steam machine will also be a computer if needed. Connect it to the monitor with a mouse and keyboard, and the console will act as a Linux desktop. There is also an option to install Windows instead of SteamOS, which can still play PC games, although the experience won’t be as smooth as SteamOS.

The Steam Controller for the Steam machine will connect seamlessly to the console. Also, for multiplayer games, four controllers can connect to the console very easily.

Wait, didn’t Valve have Steam machines anymore?

Kind of. Back in 2013, Valve unveiled a new system called SteamOS. That’s what powers Steam Deck and creates a Big Picture Mode, which allows gamers to play their PC games in an almost console-like fashion instead of the typical desktop experience of using a mouse to double-click a game to start.

Along with the operating system, Valve also released its own Steam Machine platform. This allowed hardware makers to develop computers shaped like home consoles instead of desktops. Alienware and Dell were among the notable companies that built their own Steam Machines, but none of them caught on, in part due to many games not being compatible with the Linux-based SteamOS.

Steam Machines were disrupted in the mid-2010s as making games compatible with SteamOS was not a priority for game developers at the time. It wasn’t until 2018 that Valve developed Proton, a compatible layer for SteamOS to make it easier to run many Windows games. Proton currently supports over 20,000 Windows games.

Valve also ended up providing another way to get a new piece of hardware. In 2015, the company was released Steam linka device that allowed PC games to be streamed directly to a TV.