Valve dipped its toe into the hardware business when it released the Steam Deck handheld back in 2022. This past November, the company revealed an expanded lineup of hardware that includes a VR headset, controller and a living room game console called the Steam Machine.

The Steam Machine is Valve's gaming PC, built into a roughly 6-inch cube designed to connect to a living room TV. The aim is to deliver a simplified PC gaming experience for a broad audience. While the Steam Machines' hardware makes it slightly more powerful than the standard PS5 or Xbox Series X, the company doesn't see the Steam Machine as a direct competitor to those consoles.

Here's everything we know about the Steam Machine.

When does the Steam Machine come out? 

Valve has yet to give a firm release date for the Steam Machine, but last November, when showing off the new hardware lineup, Valve employees said it would be coming in early 2026. On Feb. 4, Valve shared its first major update about the Steam Machine since the reveal, and it looks like it will be delayed a bit. 

"Our goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year has not changed," the company said. "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."

This could mean that Valve was expecting to release the Steam Machine in March, but the company is now changing to maybe a May or June launch. 

Can I preorder the Steam Machine?

There are no preorders available for the Steam Machine yet. When preorders become available, they will likely be available on the Steam Machine hardware page. 

If Valve does do preorders, the company may have a system in place to roll out consoles in a timely manner, as it did with the Steam Deck. With the Steam Deck, you could preorder the device, and based on when an order was submitted, you would get a designated timeframe for its release and when you'd receive it. 

Valve also required anyone who wanted to preorder the Steam Deck to have a Steam account. This would prevent scalpers from ordering numerous devices at once, which will likely be the case with the Steam Machine. 

How much will the Steam Machine cost? 

This is arguably the biggest question about the Steam Machine, and for good reason. Valve said the console would be priced in the same range as a gaming PC with the same kind of power. There has been speculation that this would put the price at around $600 to $800. 

However, the global RAM shortage continues to raise the price of memory. This could mean the Steam Machine may cost $1,000 or more, which would be a hard sell for many and make it less competitive against the PlayStation 5 or a regular gaming PC. 

Valve said on Feb. 4 that it's still trying to figure out the price of the Steam Machine.

"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)," the company said.

What are the Steam Machine specs? 

Valve has released the specs for the Steam Machine, but on the hardware page, there is a note at the bottom stating, "some specifications subject to change ahead of availability." It's not common to see that kind of disclaimer, which hints that if tariffs or  RAM shortages make the console too expensive, Valve may make adjustments to keep the price attractive. 

What else is unique to the Steam Machine? 

Valve is doing a bit more than just making a tiny gaming PC. The company is offering some features that aren't found on the PS5, Switch 2 or Xbox Series consoles. 

To start, there are removable face plates for the Steam Machine. This is similar to the faceplates for the Xbox 360, which offer a bit of customization for the console. 

Steam Machines are upgradable. You can increase the storage by adding a microSD card to the respective slot on the console or switching out the solid-state drive. There is also the possibility to upgrade the RAM, but that will take a few more steps versus the storage swapping. 

The Steam Machine will also be just a computer when needed. Connect it to a monitor with a mouse and keyboard, and the console will act just like a Linux desktop. There's also the option to install Windows in lieu of SteamOS, which would make it still play PC games, although the experience won't be as smooth as SteamOS.

The Steam Controller for the Steam Machine will connect seamlessly to the console. And, for multiplayer games, four controllers can connect with a console very easily.

Wait, didn't Valve already have Steam Machines?

Kind of. Back in 2013, Valve revealed a new operating system called SteamOS. It's what powers the Steam Deck and creates the Big Picture Mode, which allows gamers to play their PC games in a mostly console-like experience instead of the typical desktop experience of using a mouse to double-click a game to start. 

Along with the operating system, Valve also released its Steam Machine platform. This allowed computer hardware makers to develop computers shaped more like a home console instead of a desktop. Alienware and Dell were some of the notable companies that developed their own Steam Machines, but none of them really caught on, partly due to many games not being compatible with the Linux-based SteamOS. 

The Steam Machines fizzled out in the mid-2010s as making games compatible with SteamOS was not a priority for game developers at the time. It wasn't until 2018 that Valve developed Proton, a compatibility layer for SteamOS to make it easier to run most Windows games. Proton currently supports more than 20,000 Windows games. 

Valve also ended up offering an alternative to getting a whole new piece of hardware. In 2015, the company released Steam Link, a device that allowed PC games to be streamed directly to a TV.