Steam machine comes at the price of a computer, not a console!

Valve’s newly announced Steam Machine will be priced “like a PC, not like a console.”

This is the statement of a Volvo spokesperson who spoke with Linus Sebastian from the YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips at the unveiling ceremony of this new device. According to him, this probably means that Steam is not going to compromise on manufacturing costs to lower the consumer price; What companies like PlayStation and Xbox have done in the past.

Currently, the PlayStation 5 costs between $500 and $550, the Pro version is $750, and the Xbox Series X/S starts at $600. Both companies have raised prices this year. Sebastian said:

Although he could not provide a specific number, because the market conditions are changing very quickly; But it will definitely announce the final price when the Steam Machine is released in the first quarter of 2026, along with the new Steam Controller. However, they told me one thing; that they expect the device to be priced like a computer; Not like a console where the cost of the hardware is compensated by the sale of games. If I’m going to guess, one of the reasons is so that their potential partners’ profit margins on Steam games and software don’t disappear, and also because they know that the Steam Machine is actually a full computer. So there is no guarantee that, for example, buying 10,000 units of this product will even lead to the sale of one game; Therefore, they must maintain the stability of their hardware business.

The Steam Machine, recently introduced with a virtual reality headset and new controller, is a six-inch console-like cube with more than six times the computing power of the Steam Deck. This device is supposed to provide the possibility of playing computer games on the TV. Velo says that Steam offers a game machine with 4K resolution and 60 frames per second with the help of FSR; Thanks to a desktop class semi-custom processor and graphics card from AMD. It will also have enough power to stream games to other devices, including SteamDeck.

Velo plans to release a new set of hardware products and has announced that it will determine the price of the Steam Machine before its release next year. According to Ampere Analysis, a large part of the device’s success depends on its price. Katie Holt of Amper says:

Amper expects the device to be a SteamDeck-like success and reach multi-million sales within a few years. This device appeals both to seasoned Steam gamers who want a new access point to, say, gaming on a TV, and to those who are hesitant about the high cost of a gaming PC. For this category of consumers, acceptance will strongly depend on price. The Steam Machine’s specs are less powerful than high-end gaming PCs, so ideally it’s priced to match this level of capabilities.

Source: VGC