The announcement of the new Steam Machine from earlier this month led many to believe that Valve was making a direct play against the console market, trying to capture some of the loyal users who have followed PlayStation and Xbox platforms for generations.
However, there's one key aspect that might very well prevent that from happening: price. At first, speculation was that Valve would have subsidized the hardware, similar to what Sony and Microsoft have been doing with their PlayStation and Xbox consoles. This means accepting a loss on every unit sold, counting on the fact that the real profit comes with selling games and accessories.
Valve could have done the same thing, as they also receive a 30% cut on sales from the Steam store, and they sell accessories and other hardware that will be compatible with the Steam Machine, such as the new Steam Controller and the Steam Frame Virtual Reality headset. However, it doesn't appear that they are planning to move forward with this strategy.
We got our first inkling when Valve's Hardware Engineer, Yazan Aldehayyat, stated that the product's pricing would be 'really competitive' compared to building a similar PC at home. That sounded like it won't be too far off from just purchasing the regular PC components yourself. Then, Linus Tech Tips commented that, after mentioning a potential $500 price point for the Steam Machine in a room with Valve employees, the 'energy wasn't great', suggesting it was unlikely to happen.
Now, though, YouTuber SkillUp flat-out asked the question, and the answer from Software Engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais was a straight no:
[....] But it's not going to be a sort of subsidized device, like, Valve is not going into this thinking we're going to eat a big loss on this so that we can grow market share or category or anything like that, correct?
Pierre-Loup Griffais: No, it's more in line with what you might expect from the current PC market. Obviously, our goal is for it to be a good deal at that level of performance. And then you have features that are actually really hard to build if you are making your own gaming PC from parts. Things like the small form factor, the noise level that we achieved, or lack thereof, is really impressive and we are excited that people are going to find out how quiet this thing is. But also some integration features like HDMI CEC. The Bluetooth and wireless work that we've done, the four antennas, the very deliberate design so that you can have a great experience with four Bluetooth controllers.
Without subsidization, and with the rumored RAM price hike from Samsung, the Steam Machine might end up costing between $800 and $900. At that price point, it would be honestly a difficult sell to most console users when the PlayStation 5, which launched in 2020 and is priced at $499 (right now, the Digital Edition is actually down to $399 for the duration of the Black Friday sale), is reportedly slightly more powerful.
As a reminder, here's the full spec sheet from Valve.
| Category | Specification |
|---|---|
| I/O | |
| Displays | DisplayPort 1.4: - Up to 4K @ 240Hz or 8K@60Hz - Supports HDR, FreeSync, daisy-chaining HDMI 2.0: - Up to 4K @ 120Hz - Supports HDR, FreeSync, CEC |
| USB | - Two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (front) - Two USB-A 2.0 High speed (back) - One USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (back) |
| Networking | Gigabit ethernet |
| LED Strip | 17 individually addressable RGB LEDs for system status and customization |
| Size & Weight | |
| Size | 152 mm tall (148 mm without feet), 162.4 mm deep, 156 mm wide |
| Weight | 2.6 kg |
| Software | |
| Operating System | SteamOS 3 (Arch-based) |
| Desktop | KDE Plasma |
| General | |
| CPU | Semi-custom AMD Zen 4 6C/12T - Up to 4.8 GHz, 30W TDP |
| GPU | Semi-custom AMD RDNA3 28CUs - 2.45GHz max sustained clock, 110W TDP |
| RAM | 16GB DDR5 + 8GB GDDR6 VRAM |
| Power | Internal power supply, AC 110-240V |
| Storage | Two models: - 512GB NVMe SSD - 2TB NVMe SSD - Both include a high-speed microSD slot |
| Connectivity | |
| Wi-Fi | 2x2 Wi-Fi 6E |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.3 (dedicated antenna) |
| Steam Controller | Integrated 2.4 GHz Steam Controller wireless adapter |
Provided that you are interested in the Steam Machine, what would be the maximum price point you'd be willing to accept at launch? Vote in the poll below.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
