TL;DR: Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine, set for release in 2026, aims to combine affordability and ease of use. Recent leaks suggest prices around $950 for a 512GB model and $1,070 for 2TB, comparable to high-end devices, though official pricing remains unconfirmed amid memory supply challenges.
I’ve been anticipating $800+, and with storage and ram now, I honestly doubt less than $900. Look at current gaming handheld and console pricing. 1k isn’t an insane prediction with current markets.
I paid about $450 for mid-range Mini PC and another $450 for a smallish egpu that should match the performance of what’s going in the Steam Machine. That was before the Rampocalypse, and I would still expect valve company to have contracted with manufacturers and component packages upstream from the public announcement so I’m still crossing my fingers people can buy these things for sub $1000.
Hot take: I think they should only allow any one Steam account to purchase one or two units total and require at least one paid game purchase in the account history, thus frustrating the efforts of scalpers and office businesses trying to get at productivity machines for cheap.
That works out to a $1 USD fee and an extra 3 minutes of effort, if they’re going to be cheap about it.