The Steam Machine is Valve’s compact, console-shaped PC that runs SteamOS and plays your existing Steam library on a TV. It launches at the end of June 2026, but you cannot simply walk up and buy one on day one. Valve is using a registration draw to control demand, and the price lands well above what many people expected when the system was first shown.
Quick answer: Join the Steam Machine registration list before June 25 at 10 AM PT, then wait for an email confirming you were randomly selected to buy. Units ship June 30, with prices starting at $1,049 for the 512GB model.
Steam Machine release date and how to buy it
Both versions of the Steam Machine launch on June 30, 2026. Valve is not running a standard first-come, first-served sale. Instead, you register your interest, and after the list closes the company randomly selects buyers and notifies them by email.
Note: You will know the registration worked when the order confirmation email arrives. If you never receive that email after the list closes, you were not selected in that wave.
Steam Machine price and configurations
Pricing starts at $1,049 and climbs depending on storage and whether you add a Steam Controller. The 2TB versions also include two extra faceplates, a red fabric panel and a solid walnut panel. The Steam Controller on its own costs $99.99, so the bundle pricing tracks closely with buying the controller separately.
| Configuration | US price | UK price |
|---|---|---|
| 512GB, no controller | $1,049 | £879 |
| 512GB with Steam Controller | $1,128 | £938 |
| 2TB, no controller | $1,349 | £1,149 |
| 2TB with Steam Controller | $1,428 | £1,208 |
These figures are higher than early predictions, and Valve itself has acknowledged charging more than originally planned. The cause is component cost. RAM prices spiked sharply not long after the system was announced in November 2025, and SSDs, VRAM, and GPUs have all stayed expensive through 2026. The same pressure pushed up prices across the wider hardware market, with the Steam Deck, PS5, and Xbox lines all rising during the year.
The Steam Machine is also not subsidized the way a traditional console is. Because it is fundamentally a PC, someone could buy one, install Windows, and never spend on Steam again. Valve has to price it to at least break even rather than recover costs through game sales.
Steam Machine specs
| Component | Specification |
|---|---|
| CPU | Semi-custom AMD Zen 4, 6-core / 12-thread, up to 4.8 GHz, 30W TDP |
| GPU | Semi-custom AMD RDNA 3, 28 CUs, 2.45 GHz max sustained, 110W TDP |
| RAM | 16GB DDR5 plus 8GB GDDR6 VRAM |
| Storage | 512GB or 2TB NVMe SSD, plus high-speed microSD slot |
| Networking | 2×2 Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, 2.4GHz Steam Controller adapter, gigabit Ethernet |
| Rear ports | 1× DisplayPort 1.4, 1× HDMI 2.0, 2× USB-A 2.0, 1× USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 |
| Front ports | 2× USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 |
| Lighting | 17 individually addressable RGB LEDs |
| Dimensions (WxDxH) | 156 × 162.4 × 152mm |
| Weight | 2.6 kg / 5.7 lbs |
| Power | Internal supply, AC 110–240V |
Size and design
The most striking feature is how small it is. At 156mm wide, 162.4mm deep, and 152mm tall, the cube is a fraction of the size of most mini gaming PCs and far smaller than a standard ATX tower. It fits easily on a desk next to a laptop or alongside a PS5 and Xbox Series X under a TV. A lighting strip with 17 RGB LEDs runs along the front edge for system status, and the front panel can be swapped for other designs.
CPU and GPU
The processor uses AMD’s Zen 4 architecture, a clear step up from the Steam Deck’s older Zen 2 design but not Valve’s latest. It has six cores that present to SteamOS as 12 threads, and it runs at up to 4.8GHz, well above the 3.5GHz ceiling of the Deck’s four-core chip. In raw core count it sits roughly alongside a Ryzen 5 7600X.
The graphics side uses RDNA 3 with 28 compute units, a peak clock of 2.45GHz, and a 110W power envelope. That is a major jump over the Steam Deck’s eight-CU, 15W RDNA 2 part. In desktop terms the GPU sits close to a Radeon RX 7600, and it shares its 28 CUs with the laptop-class RX 7600M.
Performance expectations
The system targets 4K at 60fps, but it gets there through upscaling rather than native rendering. The GPU is not powerful enough for native 4K outside very light games, so it relies on AMD FSR to upscale from around 1080p. On a TV with a controller, that trade-off is far more forgiving than it would be for fast-paced mouse-and-keyboard play on a monitor.
Ray tracing is the weak spot. Heavier titles such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Doom: The Dark Ages can struggle to hold 40fps even on low settings. The 16GB of system RAM and dedicated 8GB of VRAM should cover most modern games, and SteamOS uses memory more efficiently than Windows, which softens concerns about the 8GB VRAM figure.
Verified badges and what the machine is for
The Steam Machine joins the Verified program that started with the Steam Deck, so games will carry a badge telling you how well they run on the hardware. The requirements for a Verified badge are nearly identical to the Steam Deck’s criteria.
At its core, the Steam Machine is built to bring your full Steam library into the living room without firing up a separate gaming PC or reaching for a keyboard and mouse. It can also work as a general-purpose PC, stream games to other devices, and run your own apps and operating systems if you choose. For anyone weighing it against a prebuilt, a comparable PC with an RX 7600 and 16GB of RAM currently runs around $900 to $1,200, and will often be more powerful, though it lacks conveniences like HDMI CEC and wake-via-controller.
