For all the nonsense Valve was saying about not being able to count to “3,” the company made us all look like fools when it announced a few weeks ago. three Hardware: Steam Machine, a portable PC that connects to a TV like a console; Steam Frame, Valve's entry into the VR market; And a new Steam Controller.
Of that trio, the Steam Machine is probably the most exciting reveal. After all, one of the great things about console gaming is that you can just plug the hardware into your TV and start playing.
What's even more interesting than the premise of being able to play your Steam library on a big screen TV is how much it will cost overall. At least a good PC isn't cheap, and the Steam Machine is 70% more powerful than anything Steam users are currently using.
If your Steam Machine doesn't run the new Half-Life, it'll eat your hat
Valve has the perfect opportunity to release a new Half-Life game via the upcoming Steam Machine.
In a new interview, Valve hinted that you'll have to take out your wallet and shell out some cash to get a Steam Machine whenever pre-orders go live.
Shut up and take my money… maybe
In a new episode of The Friends Per Second podcast with Jake Baldino and SkillUp, Valve's Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais were asked directly about the pricing strategy behind Valve's shiny new technology, and Griffais provided some insight into what to expect.
“If you build a PC from components and get basically the same level of performance, I think that’s the general price window we’re targeting,” he said. “Ideally, we would be pretty competitive and get a pretty good deal, but right now we're trying to improve that. And these are difficult times to get a really good idea of what the prices are going to be, because there's a lot of different things. There's a lot of external things.”
That said, it's unlikely that Valve will lose out on hardware, similar to what Sony is doing with its new Japan-exclusive PlayStation 5 or what console manufacturers have historically done to attract people.
When asked if Valve would potentially lose money on the machine, Griffais said, “No, it's more in line with what we can expect from the PC market right now.”
These words echo what Linus Tech Tips shared in a separate video that the Steam Machine is more expensive than we expect from the console. The word officially comes from Valve itself. In other words, get your wallet ready.
- brand
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valve
- operating system
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SteamOS 3 (Arch based)
- processor
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Semi-custom AMD Zen 4 6C/12T up to 4.8GHz, 30W TDP
- solve
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Up to 4K@240Hz or 8K@60Hz
- HDR support
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yes
- original release date
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2026
A year has passed and the PS5 Pro has yet to prove itself.
Is the PS5 Pro worth buying now? Let’s take a look and find out.
