In a distinctly Valve-like move, the Steam company has shared the new release window for the Steam Machine and Steam Frame buried within a seemingly minor announcement.
A few hours ago, Valve announced the expansion of the Verified program, which was first introduced for the Steam Deck, to include the upcoming two systems. Just like with the Steam Deck version, the program is meant to help customers choose games that are fully optimized for the platforms. By far the most interesting aspect of the blog post is that Valve confirmed both are shipping "this Summer". Of course, it's still a fairly vague window that runs from late June to late September, but it narrows down the previously announced second-half 2026 window. It also follows the previous hint of the Welcome Tour added to Steam's backend.
Valve's original goal, as you'll no doubt recall, was to launch all its new hardware (including the Steam Controller, released last month) in early 2026. However, the sudden spike in RAM pricing due to the AI datacenter-induced shortages led to an inevitable delay. According to insiders, the RAM shortages have caused the price targets of both systems (though the Steam Machine is most affected) to skyrocket internally. The Steam Machine is rumored to cost more than the Steam Deck's 1TB OLED model, potentially breaking the $1000 psychological threshold and making it hard for Valve to compete with game consoles.
We've added a recap table of the main specs for both systems below.
| Specs | Steam Machine | Steam Frame |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Semi-custom AMD Zen 4, 6-core/12-thread, up to 4.8GHz, 30W TDP | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4nm) |
| GPU | Semi-custom AMD RDNA 3, 28 CU, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM | Integrated |
| RAM | 16GB DDR5 | 16GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | 512GB or 2TB NVMe SSD | 256GB or 1TB; microSD slot available for expansion |
| Display Output | 4K/60fps (FSR upscaling), 1440p native, ray tracing supported | 2160 x 2160 per eye; 72-144Hz refresh rate |
| Connectivity | DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0, Wi-Fi, integrated 2.4GHz Steam Controller receiver, Bluetooth | Wi-Fi 7 (adapter with Wi-Fi 6E) |
| Weight | 2.6 kg | 0.4 kg (including headstrap) |
| OS | SteamOS | Standalone |
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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