Valve has shared an update on the development of its upcoming Steam-branded hardware, including Steam engineand revealed that there has been an unfortunate delay in announcing the devices' pricing and release date. But despite these issues, Valve seems confident that the Steam Machine and its other hardware will still launch within the time frame originally promised.
Back in November 2025, Valve revealed that many of the rumors surrounding new hardware from the company were legitimate, revealing a new Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and the all-new Steam Frame VR headset. The three devices immediately sparked excitement from PC gamers and fans of Valve products, and potential customers have been waiting for more information ever since, but now there's trouble on the horizon.
Valve Comments on Steam Machine Power
A Valve engineer comments on how powerful the upcoming Steam Machine system will be and reveals the reasons behind its technical specifications.
Steam announces delay in pricing and launch date
On February 4th, Steam officially announced that the three pieces of Steam hardware are still on the way, but there have been some hiccups since the announcement. Valve explains that it was originally intended that pricing and launch dates would have already been revealed by now, but that was before the hardware shortage became as severe as it is now. However, Valve adds that it still intends to ship the Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller in the first half of 2026. It added that the company “has work to do” to establish concrete prices and schedules, especially for the Steam Frame and Steam Machine, due to the variability in the market and pricing.
Steam's hardware is affected by supply and demand
Largely due to demand from a glut of AI companies and data centers, some types of chips, storage and RAM have become difficult to obtain, and many that are still available for purchase have seen price increases as a result of reduced supply. Given that the Steam Machine is essentially a PC console hybrid, it needs essentially the same parts that would go into the equivalent devices. PC gamers have already seen the price of components like RAM and GPUs skyrocket, and SSDs have also recently been affected. Some gamers began to express concerns about these flaws affecting the Steam Machine in the time since its announcement, and it seems those thoughts were valid.
The AI boom has created enough hardware shortages that it could potentially affect gameplay outside of Valve as well. Some reports have said that the increased costs could lead to delays in the next consoles from PlayStation and Xbox, while the prices of everything from existing consoles to TVs could potentially go up. Those looking to build or upgrade a gaming PC right now already know the trick, with the prices of Nvidia GPUs rising along with other necessary components.
While Valve seems confident in the timing of its releases, players may want to brace themselves anyway. Fans have pointed to “Valve Time,” the trend for Valve to see delays in the launch of its games or devices, for one. However, with the market being so volatile right now, even if Valve keeps its promise to release the devices in the first half of 2026, the price may be higher than some fans can handle right now.
Valve fans respond to the news
Most of those who have shared their thoughts with Valve on the official forums seem concerned, but optimistic. Many have thanked Valve for remaining open and transparent with what's going on. Some have expressed hope that Valve may consider releasing the Steam Controller independently of the other two devices, with the idea that the controller is likely to use fewer affected components and could potentially be released sooner. Others have expressed frustration and anger, but it has largely been directed at AI and its impact on the gaming industry as a whole, rather than taking it out on Valve for a situation that appears to be largely out of its control.
Source: Steam
