Featured Image Credit: Valve
Topics: Half Life, Half-Life 2, PC, Steam, Tech, Valve, Steam Machine
The price of the Steam Machine has just been hinted at, and it doesn’t sound like it’ll be encroaching on PlayStation’s territory.
Valve revealed the Steam Machine last week along with the new Steam Controller and VR headset, the Steam Frame.
With its small form factor and relative ease of setting up, the Steam Machine looks like a rather decent entryway for people to get into PC gaming.
However, even with a focus on accessibility, it looks like this may not necessarily be the case with regards to pricing.
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As reported by Linus Tech Tips, the YouTuber claims a representative of Valve told him that the Steam Machine will not be subsidised. Essentially this prices it at the same cost as a regular PC.
“They did give me one hint though,” Linus says in a video released last week. “They said that while they expect it to be very competitively priced with a PC, that it will be priced like a PC rather than like a console with games subsidising the upfront hardware purchase.”
Many thought that the Steam Machine could be subsidised as a result of Valve taking 30% of all purchases made on the Steam store.
This would have meant that the hardware could be priced lower, as Valve would make the money back on the hardware from games sold on the store.
However, if the Steam Machine is going to be “priced like a PC”, it could mean the hardware is going to be sold at a higher price of around £700 or higher.
With the PS6, rumoured to be launching in 2027, probably being priced much lower than that, it sounds like Sony is safe for now.
Linus also states that the current market, such as with the tariffs in the US, make it difficult for Valve to confirm a price just yet.
With a Q1 2026 launch in mind though, I’d imagine we’ll hear more about pricing a little bit closer to the date. It’s not yet which specific month it could launch, so it could potentially come bundled with big early 2026 games like 007 First Light or Resident Evil Requiem.
As for other Valve-related news, Half-Life 3 rumours are abound once again. It was rumoured for a while that the game would be revealed this week, as per many sources.
This obviously did not come to pass, though some insiders have stated that they still believe a 2025 Half-Life announcement is coming. We’ll just have to wait and see what comes of it.