Valve Breaks Silence About Steam Machine Release and Price

February 7, 2026, 10:30am

Valve has finally broken its silence when it comes to the release date and price of the Steam Machine. In recent weeks, questions have continued to grow louder about the arrival and cost of Valve’s latest hardware. Despite expectedly launching in the first months of 2026, Valve has continued to not say anything, which has led to fears of a delay coming about. Now, Valve seems to have more or less confirmed that a delay has happened, although it shouldn’t be a big one.

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In a new post on Steam, Valve explained why it has been silent about the release date and price of the Steam Machine. The company said that it previously planned on announcing the launch date and price for not only the Steam Machine but also its new Steam Frame VR headset by now. However, recent shortages of various components have resulted in skyrocketing manufacturing prices, which has forced Valve to re-evaluate its release and pricing plans. Currently, it still expects both platforms to become available in the first half of this year, but it refused to commit to any specifics for the time being.

“When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now,” Valve said. “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,” the message continued. “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. We will keep you updated as much as we can as we finalize those plans as soon as possible.”

A Steam Machine Delay Isn’t a Bad Thing

Although Valve didn’t refer to this as a delay of the Steam Machine, it almost certainly is one. When the hardware was first announced, it was said to be launching in “Early 2026”, which led most to believe that it would drop by the end of March. For this window to have now been expanded to the first half of 2026 tells us that things have quickly changed behind the scenes.

Still, a delay for the Steam Machine isn’t a bad thing. Valve has a lot riding on the Steam Machine, as it could represent the next major evolution of the company following its release of the Steam Deck. If the Steam Machine releases at a price that is drastically higher than most consumers anticipate, then the platform could be dead on arrival. Because of this, it’s really important that Valve is able to get the price of the Steam Machine right so that its newest tech can quickly gain a foothold and begin to reshape modern conventions of PC gaming.

For those interested in buying the Steam Machine, they should be prepared to shell out hundreds, if not over a thousand dollars, for the platform. Even before Valve was forced to consider raising the price of the device, the Steam Machine was always going to be pretty costly. So if you’re looking to pre-order the Steam Machine once it becomes available, you’d better keep saving up your money.

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