Valve's Steam Machine release date and price update has us fearing the worst

Valve has given first official updates on the Steam Machine, Steam Frame and Steam Controller since it announced them in November 2025 and fans are fearing the worst about costs.

Valve shared FAQ responses in an update on Steam about release dates and prices to consumers.

It said: "When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now. But the memory and storage shortages you've likely heard about across the industry have rapidly increased since then.

"The limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing (especially around Steam Machine and Steam Frame).

"Our goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year has not changed. But we have work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates that we can confidently announce, being mindful of how quickly the circumstances around both of those things can change."

To summarise, Valve has confirmed the shortage of crucial components such as RAM, GPU and memory caused by huge tech companies investing vast sums of money into building artificial intelligence (AI) data centres is causing big problems for the dates and pricing of its new suite of hardware.

And in the Technology Subreddit, consumers are fearing the worst of how much these new products will cost.

One said: "I cannot see this being affordable for most people at this rate..."

A second added: "Last year for $200 I got 64GB of DDR5 RAM when I built a new PC. That same set of RAM is still available at Micro Center but is now $920. Prices are going to be insane."

A third agreed: "There is no way the Steam Machine can be affordable and profitable with RAM prices where they are. RAM prices are through the roof. In September, I built my wife a gaming rig. 32GB of RAM was $65. I looked up the same RAM last week and it was $420."

"I hate this timeline," declared a fourth.

And a fifth commented: "AI sucks. Stop using it."

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Steam Machine: Everything we know so far about Valve's new console
• Half-Life 3: Everything we know so far

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