Valve Positions Steam Machine As A PC-Level Option With Living-Room Conveniences

Valve has given the clearest indication yet of how it plans to price the Steam Machine, the hybrid PC it unveiled earlier this month. The device, which can function as a compact living-room console or a standard desktop, has drawn heavy interest since its reveal. Until now, however, the company had sidestepped any discussion of what customers might expect to pay.

That changed during an appearance on the Friends Per Second podcast, where Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais outlined the price range Valve is targeting. Many prospective buyers were hoping for a figure, but the two were careful to avoid specifics. Even so, Griffais left little doubt about the company’s strategy.

"I think that if you build a PC from parts, and get to the same level of performance, that's the general price window we aim to be at," he said. "Ideally, we would be pretty competitive with that, and have a pretty good deal."

The framing aligns Steam Machine with mid-range PC builds rather than subsidised consoles, which often sell below cost to drive software sales. When pressed on whether the hardware would be subsidised, Griffais pushed that idea aside, repeating that the device will sit “more in line with what you might expect from current PC market.” Valve is still refining its internal cost structure, he added, but the goal remains consistent: match the performance-for-price of a self-built machine while packaging features that standard PCs leave to the user.

Griffais pointed to those features more than once. The system’s compact form factor and low noise profile serve as practical examples, but he emphasised details that blend convenience with living-room expectations. HDMI-CEC support allows the Steam Machine to turn a television on or off. A single controller button can wake the device, triggering an experience closer to a console than a custom tower. These small touches, he argued, address frustrations that come with running a traditional PC next to a television.

"You know, you have features which are actually really hard to build if you are making your own gaming PC from parts," he said.

The kind of integrated behaviour users take for granted in consoles — particularly effortless power control — often requires aftermarket components or can’t be achieved at all on a typical build. In his view, this distinction occupies its own category.

“There’s not really a price point to that, because it’s not something that exists in the PC market right now.”

Still, Griffais acknowledged that a segment of the audience prefers building machines from the ground up and will continue doing so. For everyone else, Valve sees the Steam Machine as a capable baseline, offering performance in line with established PC expectations while bundling functions that are otherwise elusive. That positioning suggests the company is treating the device as an entry point into the broader PC ecosystem, rather than as a competitor to high-end custom rigs.

The interview also touched briefly on the possibility of expanded hardware. Griffais indicated Valve might consider a more powerful “Pro” version in the future, though the priority remains the current configuration. As he described it, this model hits a “good trade-off between affordability and the level of power” the company wants to deliver.

Valve plans to release the Steam Machine next year, though it has not provided a launch date. Distribution will follow the pattern established by the Steam Deck, with hardware sold directly rather than through third-party retailers. Analysts are watching the price closely. As Rhyss Elliott of Alinea Analytics told Eurogamer earlier this month, anything above $500 risks placing the device in a niche occupied by compact PCs rather than living-room consoles. Elliott argued that $400, bundled with a controller, would anchor it firmly as an accessible alternative at a moment when traditional consoles have trended upward in cost.

Read also, Former Xbox executive Larry Hryb, known as Major Nelson, has urged calm amid the early platform sparring around Valve’s device, noting that these cycles have played out repeatedly across the industry and rarely merit the heat they generate.