Valve has delayed the Steam Machine and Steam Frame’s price and release date announcement
Hopefully, we'll hear more in the next few months
☹️ Valve has delayed the price and release date announcement for the Steam Machine and Steam Frame
📆 The release date of the products has slipped to the first half of 2026, rather than the previously announced Q1 2026.
😤 The reason for this is the volatility and uncertainty of the chip shortage that has caused high prices for RAM and storage
🤔 Valve had previously said the price of the Steam Machine would be similar to a comparably-specced PC, although that may have increased from original predictions
Valve has announced it has delayed the upcoming Steam Machine and Steam Frame devices’ price and release date announcements.
In a new announcement, Valve has said it still isn’t ready to make an official announcement about availability or pricing for both products because of the current chip shortage.
The announcement says that the company now plans to launch the devices “in the first half of the year”, rather than the previously noted Q1 release window when the products were unveiled back in November 2025.
The reason for adjusting the release window to the first half of 2026, rather than the first three months, is due to the uncertainty over current pricing for RAM and storage, which has caused the components to skyrocket in price due to the demand from AI.
Valve has said that it has “work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates we can confidently announce, being mindful of how quickly the circumstances around both of these things can change.”
The fact is that the issues of RAM price surges have only gotten worse since November 2025, as per Valve, and even the brand was expecting to have announced pricing and launch dates by now, according to the announcement.
However, “the limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our [Valve’s] exact shipping schedule and pricing (especially around Steam Machine and Steam Frame).”
Valve had previously stated the Steam Machine price would be “in line with the current PC market”, although with the current pricing situation, the anticipated MSRP that we thought has probably shot up to close to four figures.
Up next: Nvidia reportedly has no plans to release new RTX 50-series Super GPUs in 2026
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.