Valve Corp announced pricing and availability details for the Steam Machine, a cube-shaped video game console that has seen its release pushed back several months due to pricing volatility around memory, solid-state drives and other components.
The Steam Machine will cost US$1,049 (RM4,352) for a base model with 512 gigabytes of storage, and Valve is also selling a US$1,349 (RM5,598) model with two terabytes of space, allowing owners to download more games. Customers can sign up for a reservation system now, and the first orders will be taken on June 29.
The company, which runs the popular Steam PC-game store, originally planned to ship the Steam Machine in early 2026. But in February, Valve acknowledged that an unprecedented industry component shortage had forced a delay. "The limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing,” the company said at the time.
In a June 22 blog post, Valve said the outlook hasn’t improved – but it’s moving ahead with the Steam Machine’s release at a higher price than it would have preferred. "The overall effect is that our original goal for the price of Steam Machine is no longer viable,” it said. "So the prices we’re sharing today reflect the state of the world for manufacturing; or, more accurately, it reflects the price of the components as we’ve secured them over the past six months.”
The company also indicated that supply will be heavily constrained at launch, saying "there were periods where we found we couldn’t source some of our components at all, at any price.” It’s using a randomised reservation system to be "more fair for everyone.”
Gaming hardware has been particularly stung by the component crunch, which has driven up prices for other consumer electronics, including smartphones and laptops. Sony Group Corp and Microsoft Corp have both sharply raised the price of their respective consoles over the past year. As just one example, the PlayStation 5 Pro now sells for US$900 (RM3,734), after debuting at US$700 (RM2,907).
Nintendo Co plans to hike the cost of its popular Switch 2 to US$500 (RM2,068) in September, an increase of US$50 (RM206). The company announced the higher price in May, giving gamers several months to snatch up inventory before it takes effect.
A few weeks later, Valve raised the price of its own Steam Deck handheld gaming device by as much as US$300 (RM1,244), making the device a much harder sell.
Gamers had initially hoped Valve’s new home console would be priced in a similar ballpark as its main rivals, but the artificial intelligence industry’s insatiable demand for memory and other components has made that unrealistic. Alongside the Steam Machine, Valve introduced the Steam Frame virtual reality headset and the US$99 (RM410) Steam Controller, which shipped earlier this year and is currently backordered.
The controller can be bundled with the Steam Machine at US$1,128 (RM4,667) for the 512-gigabyte console or US$1,428 (RM5,926) for the 2-terabyte model. – Bloomberg
