Valve will begin sending the first purchase invitation emails for its new Steam Machine on June 29, with the entry-level model priced at €1,039 in the European Union. The living room-focused SteamOS PC is therefore landing well above traditional console pricing while targeting performance roughly comparable to a PlayStation 5.
For months, the price of Valve’s new hardware was the biggest unanswered question. The company has finally provided it: the 512GB base Steam Machine will cost $1,049 in the United States and €1,039 in the European Union. That is not the kind of price that makes players automatically put their console aside and happily walk into the Steam ecosystem. It is the point where Valve needs to explain very clearly why this is more than an expensive PC in a small box next to the television.
The core idea remains appealing. The Steam Machine is a compact, living room-friendly computer running SteamOS, designed to play the Steam library people may have built over years or even decades while remaining a fully customizable Linux PC. The issue is that its price means it is no longer competing only with consoles. It also has to face the broader PC market, where the appeal of a compact closed-box device becomes far less automatic.
Four Versions Are Coming, and Even the Cheapest One Is Hardly Cheap
Valve is preparing four configurations, each with a separate reservation queue. The 2TB models include two interchangeable faceplates in addition to the standard black front: a red fabric option and a solid walnut design. The European price list is as follows:
- Steam Machine 512GB – €1,039
- Steam Machine 512GB with Steam Controller – €1,108
- Steam Machine 2TB – €1,359
- Steam Machine 2TB with Steam Controller – €1,428
The €1,039 starting price is steep by itself. Valve says the Steam Machine is not being sold as a subsidized, loss-leading console, but is instead priced around the cost of its components. That is an understandable business decision, especially given the ongoing memory and storage market pressure, but it does not change the buyer’s reality: the machine costs significantly more than a PlayStation 5, an Xbox Series X, and even a PS5 Pro.
The larger problem is not simply that it is expensive, but that it does not immediately offer a dramatic performance advantage in return. Based on earlier hands-on impressions, the Steam Machine performs roughly at PlayStation 5 level, despite arriving nearly six years after Sony launched that console. Its argument is not raw power, then, but freedom: access to a Steam library, customization, Linux, mouse-and-keyboard support, and a platform that is not locked to a single console manufacturer’s storefront.
This Will Be a Reservation Queue, Not a Simple Purchase
Valve is not opening a standard preorder process. People can sign up for the configuration they want, after which a one-time randomization on June 25 will determine the reservation order. Anyone who signs up later will automatically be placed at the back of the waitlist, and the first purchase invitation emails will be sent on June 29.
Eligibility requires a Steam account in good standing and at least one purchase made on Steam before April 27, 2026. Only one sign-up is allowed per household, with Valve using payment details, shipping addresses, and other information to detect duplicate entries. The European Union is listed as a separate shipping region, so Valve is not attempting to serve every market through one single global stock pool.
The memory and storage shortage had already disrupted plans for the Steam Machine, the Steam Frame, and the new Steam Controller. Valve originally aimed for earlier shipping before revisiting both its pricing and release schedule. The Steam Controller launched separately in May and quickly sold out, while the Steam Frame still has no specific price or release date.
The Steam Machine is finally a real product with a real price instead of a promising hardware concept. But the price tag immediately shows how difficult Valve’s task will be: it has to convince players that living room PC freedom, a Steam library, and a more open platform are worth more than a thousand euros. This is no longer only about whether someone wants a new console. It is about whether they want to spend that much specifically to avoid buying one.
Source: The Verge
