Hardware
After years of waiting: Steam Machine gets price tag of $1,049 and launch on June 29 - pre-orders via lottery
Valve confirms prices and release date of Steam Machine. The PC console costs $1,049 for 512GB, pre-orders start June 25 via a lottery system.
Valve has finally lifted the veil on the long-awaited Steam Machine. The device, which is essentially a stationary PC with SteamOS, gets an official release date of June 29 and a hefty price tag. The entry-level version with 512GB storage and without the Steam Controller costs $1,049 (approximately €915.68). Those who want the controller as well pay $1,128 (approx. €984.64).
For those who need more space, there is a 2TB model. That costs without controller $1,349 (approx. €1,177.56) and with controller $1,428 (approx. €1,246.52). Notably, Valve does not opt for a traditional pre-order, but for a lottery system. On June 25, a select group of registered users will be randomly chosen to place an order.
Why a lottery?
Valve refers to the chaotic pre-order of the Steam Controller earlier this year. To prevent bots and scalpers from grabbing all units, a waiting list is now used. Only accounts that made a purchase on Steam before April 27 are eligible. One order per household is allowed. Those who register their interest now have a chance to place a pre-order on June 25. The rest must wait for new stock, which is not expected until 2027.
The Steam Machine is not Valve's first attempt to bring PC gaming to the living room, but it is the most interesting. The system runs on SteamOS, like the Steam Deck, and can also function as a regular PC. Valve is also introducing a Steam Machine Verified badge, similar to what it does for the Deck. Players thus get clarity on which games run well on the stationary console.
Specifications and performance
Under the hood is a semi-custom AMD Zen 4 processor with six cores and twelve threads, clocked up to 4.8 GHz. The graphics card is an RDNA 3 chip with 28 compute units and a clock speed of 2.45 GHz. The system has 16 GB DDR5 plus 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM, and an internal power supply. Storage is a 512GB or 2TB NVMe SSD, complemented by a fast microSD card slot. These specs place the Steam Machine close to a high-end gaming PC, but in a living room-friendly case.
Earlier this month, Valve hinted at a summer launch for both the Steam Machine and the new VR headset Steam Frame. The latter remains a secret for now, but the console is now fully concrete.
With a starting price of over 900 euros, the Steam Machine is significantly more expensive than a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. Yet Valve is clearly targeting a different audience: the PC gamer who wants to play their Steam library in the living room without compromising on performance. The only question is whether that group will open their wallets for a system that is close in price to a DIY PC. Who dares to take the gamble with the lottery system?