Steam Machine Status Put Into Doubt Following Valve Hardware Update

More details on the Steam Machine could be announced any day now, but a new update from Valve has brought stock availability into question.

Valve was originally planning to launch the Steam Controller, Steam Frame, and Steam Machine together, but thanks to global RAM shortages exacerbated by the AI boom, this did not come to fruition.

Instead, Valve ended up releasing the Steam Controller as a standalone entity (I have one, and it’s great), with the Steam Machine and Steam Frame planned to be released later.

The Steam Machine Could Now Launch In 2027

Now, a supply issue with the Steam Controller has got a lot of users in doubt as to how many Steam Machine units Valve will be able to reasonably ship before the end of the year.

Due to massive demand seen at launch, Valve switched from a “first come, first serve” model to a reservation system. Users enter a reservation queue and are able to secure a purchase for the Steam Controller at a later date when they become available.

“When we launched Steam Controller last month, we quickly saw that initial demand exceeded our expectations,” Valve writes in a new blog post on Steam.

“Switching to a reservation queue has (hopefully) cut down on the headaches on the customer side, and for us it's also been helpful as we plan ahead and try to get as many out as quickly as we are able.”

Valve then added that: “We have no plans to stop making Steam Controller. But as we look at the current demand compared to how many we know we can make by the end of the year, we want to manage expectations as much as we can with regards to when folks can expect to receive their order.”

Steam Controller ran out faster than we anticipated, and we hate that not everyone who wanted one was able to get it. We’re working on getting more in stock and will have an update on expected timeline soon.

— Valve (@valvesoftware) May 5, 2026

There are now three new order windows as part of this reservation queue, depending on when you put your order in: by September 2026, by December 2026, and in 2027.

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This has obviously trickled over to the Steam Machine community, where members are concerned that the same may hit Valve’s other planned hardware which still currently doesn’t have a release date.

“Unless this is some very well thought out plan by Valve, the Steam Machine launch is going to be an absolute fiasco,” reads one comment on the Steam Machine Reddit page.

“Steam machine bundled with controller is gonna be a bloodbath. Thankfully got my controller and will be going for one of the standalone models. May the force be with everybody who goes for a bundle,” reads another comment.

“Feels like they're gonna reserve the next couple months of stock for SM bundles,” another comment points out, saying that the Steam Machine will likely ship with a bundled Steam Controller.

Rumours of Steam Machine orders have persisted for months, but Valve remains tight-lipped on when the PC-console hybrid will actually be available for customers. With the global RAM shortage still ongoing though, it appears that this may not necessarily be soon.