Valve drops more hints on Steam Machine’s PC-like pricing

While Valve has still not announced exact prices for its upcoming hardware launches, members of the hardware team have been dropping some hints. After confirming that the Steam Machine will not be priced ‘like a console', two Valve workers have now added that PC gamers should expect pricing in line to a DIY PC of a similar performance level. 

After telling LinusTechTips that the Steam Machine will not be positioned as a console competitor price-wise, two Valve workers also appeared on the Friends Per Second podcast last week, adding a bit more clarification to Valve's thinking when it comes to price.

“If you build a PC from parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that’s the general price window that we aim to be at”.

They added that “obviously, our goal is for it to be a good deal at that level of performance”, so Valve won't be marking it up like we often see in the pre-built PC business. However, the Steam Machine will not be a ‘subsidised' device like consoles often are, where companies like Sony and Microsoft eat a portion of the hardware cost to get people on the platform, and then make up that money by taking a cut of software sales.

Valve does take a cut of everything sold on Steam, so it isn't like Valve couldn't do this. However, it is currently a tricky time in the hardware world due to AI corporations buying up all available supply to feed massive datacentres, leaving little left for the consumer electronics market. As a result, it is expected that certain devices, like the Xbox Series X/S consoles, will soon go up in price again due to rising memory costs. It is possible that this on-going uncertainty is why Valve hasn't nailed down a price point already.

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KitGuru Says: Given everything we know so far, how much are you expecting the Steam Machine to cost? At this point, my guess would be anywhere between $800 and $999. 

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