It’s not easy being a gamer these days, and those looking forward to Valve’s Steam Machine may be waiting a little longer to hear more about when they can actually get their hands on the device and what they should expect to pay. With Valve’s Steam Deck being a popular and easy-to-upgrade portable gaming device, the Steam Machine is meant to be something similar for a gamer’s living room or gaming area. However, the company’s recent news possibly reveals that the potential price of the machine is greatly in question.
Valve announced in its February 4, 2026, blog post that the current market for computer components is causing the company to “revisit” an exact shipping date and costs for its latest wave of physical products. Unfortunately, this news tracks rather well, considering AI data centers are causing certain everyday electronic items to skyrocket in price. It will be interesting to see if Valve can make the machine affordable for consumers.
In what’s already becoming a potentially expensive year for tech, the news is likely to frustrate gamers, many of whom are already dealing with the rising costs of components such as RAM and GPUs. However, Valve did provide new information about the Steam Machine that isn’t entirely bad news. As it stands, the Steam Machine is expected to sport an AMD Zen 4 6-core CPU, an AMD RDNA 3 GPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM. There will also be options for 512GB or 2TB NVMe SSD storage.
Valve murky about Steam Machine pricing and release date
The Steam Machine was originally announced on November 12, 2025, alongside the Steam Controller and Valve’s new VR headset, known as the Steam Frame. Since announcing these products, the company has been rather quiet about an exact release date and pricing model, despite a Czech retailer potentially leaking the price of the Steam Machine. Valve has done its best to clear some things concerning its release and pricing in the February blog post, though the news may frustrate gamers more than placate them.
Citing the rapidly increasing cost of certain computer components like storage and memory, Valve has announced that it must “revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing.” Specifically referring to the Steam Deck and Steam Frame, Valve states that it’s still planning a release sometime in the first half of 2026. However, the company is still developing a “concrete” pricing plan and an official date for launch.
While details are scant, not all is lost, as Valve did reveal some new information about the Steam Machine. For starters, the device will be modular, so users will be able to upgrade both the memory and the SSD. Valve also gave hope to playing higher-demanding games, stating that most Steam titles “play great” at 4K 60 FPS on the machine. However, it also stated that some games may play more optimally at a lower framerate through VRR for those looking to maintain 1080p internal resolution. There will also be driver updates, and users will be able to 3D print their own faceplates.
