06/23/2026
Today, Valve has announced the Steam Machine will start at $1,049 without a gamepad, or $1,128 bundled with one, but you aren’t getting a significant boost in performance over the 5.5-year-old Sony PS5 you can still buy today.
It’s the best attempt I’ve seen at a PC that actually fits into a living room, and far better than anything I could build from parts. Valve’s bet on the Steam Machine is that you literally can’t build it yourself. Even if you had the design and engineering chops, Valve tells The Verge it’s selling these components at cost, negotiating with suppliers to get you the best deal amid a memory supply and demand crisis like the world’s never seen before.
But is it good enough for $1,049? That depends on what you actually expect this PC to do — and whether Valve manages to reduce some of the lingering friction before it winds up at your door.
Read our full review at the link in the reply.
Photo by Kelsey McClellan
