Steam Machine release date speculation, specs and latest news

When Valve announced new hardware, many were mainly excited for the diminutive PC-console hybrid and its accompanying Steam Controller, but market woes have us reevaluating our Steam Machine release date speculation as revealed by a Steam Hardware FAQ.

But, despite this setback, we've got everything about the Steam machine you need to know, from its specs, whether it comes with a Steam Controller and the latest news.

Market conditions are sadly affecting the Steam Frame VR headset, too, though the upside of this is that it gives developers more time to ensure their games get Steam Frame verified, and for them to fall even more in love with their developer kits.

And while a delay is disappointing, the real kick in the teeth will be that the Steam Machine will undoubtedly be more expensive.

At least we have the Steam Deck to tide us over until then, but after the Steam Machine release date, we'll just be waiting for a future Steam Deck 2. Syspheus would be proud.

But for all things Steam Machine, read on!

When is the Steam Machine release date?

Valve stated that it hopes to release the Steam Machine in the first half of 2026.

Originally, Valve stated that it was aiming for "early 2026", but a Steam Hardware FAQ quietly expanded the scope of what this could mean.

The release date has been hampered by the ongoing RAM crisis due to AI datacentres hoovering up DRAM and NAND modules, used in system memory chips and SSDs, causing these components to skyrocket in price.

With business booming for manufacturers of these chips, some, such as Micron, are pulling out of the consumer market to instead focus on selling directly to enterprise.

All said, Valve, which has gone on the record to say that it wants to be competitively priced with entry-level PCs, has had pause for thought as it reevaluates market conditions, saying that the "limited availability and growing prices of these critical components" has resulted in Valve needing to revisit the "exact shipping schedule and pricing", and especially for the Steam Machine.

Can I pre-order the Steam Machine?

No, you cannot pre-order the Steam machine at this time.

You can wishlist it on Steam, so that you are notified the moment it becomes available for purchase.

There is also no word on whether Valve will employ a reservation system, as it did for the Steam Deck when it was first announced.

This placed prospective buyers in a queue after paying a small deposit, and when it became available for purchase, you had a window of time to put up the rest of the money.

Valve is no stranger to hardware launches now, however, so Valve could be manufacturing a large enough volume for a general launch.

Is the Steam Machine a PC or console?

The Steam Machine is a PC-hybrid console.

It is essentially the same experience as the Steam Deck, sans the portability and built-in screen, in that SteamOS, a custom version of Arch Linux, has a very console-like interface when you turn it on, but you can switch to a desktop environment.

While it is a bit more fiddly than a traditional console, it is extremely flexible, and opens the door to cheap PC games stretching back decades.

By popping into the desktop, you can install other store launchers, or anything really, as it is just a computer.

However, if you’re happy with just Steam, you can treat it very much like a console, especially seeing as the Steam Machine comes bundled with a controller.

With all that in mind, the Steam machine will be equally happy under a television in your living room, or as a PC on your desk, with mouse and keyboard plugged in.

Steam Machine specs explained

In general, Valve pegs the Steam Machine as having “over six times the horsepower of Steam Deck”. Looking at the spec sheet, the Steam Machine looks to sit between the Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5, in terms of power, but more towards the latter machine.

Unlike a console, though, the Steam Machine does not have unified memory, but instead has 16GB of system memory and 8GB of video memory.

This is an important distinction, because many recent AAA games, especially those using Unreal Engine 5, struggle to run with 8GB of video memory due to the massive size of assets, such as textures, whereas a console, despite having less memory overall, can assign only a few GB to game logic, and use the rest for video memory, if it needs to.

With this in mind, the Steam Machine will be perfectly comfortable playing esports titles such as Counter-Strike 2, but don’t expect a good experience playing something like Black Myth: Wukong with all the settings turned up.

As for those specs, check them out below:

Steam Machine specs

• 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 power 110-240V
• Storage - 512GB or 2TB NVMe SSD (both models include a high-speed microSD card slot)

Does the Steam Machine come with a controller?

Yes, the Steam machine comes with a bundled Steam Controller.

The Steam Controller is essentially the Steam Deck, but without the screen. There are your typical triggers, bumper buttons, D-pad, analogue sticks and ABXY buttons, but there are also four back-facing buttons and dual trackpads.

The controller also has a gyroscope, meaning you can get mouse-like accuracy without the use of the trackpads.

Said trackpads make more PC centric games, such as strategy games, more readily playable in a living room setting, without the need for a mouse and keyboard.

The trackpads can also be used to create additional shortcuts, akin to a weapon wheel in a game.

For those who like the controller but want to play on a system with a bit more oomph, the Steam Controller will be available separately.

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