Ever since the official announcement and reveal of the new Steam Controller, Steam Frame, and the Steam Machine, many have been wondering what the price for everything would be, especially the Steam Machine. All of Valve’s new hardware is set to launch in 2026 but no official pricing has been revealed yet. However, a new interview with Skill Up has provided some clues as to where the range might be.

Software Engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais confirmed that the Steam Machine is more powerful than 70% of gaming PCs that Valve registers on its hardware survey. This is in terms of general CPU level. “We have looked at that number as part of speccing the machine, so it’s possible it’s evolved a little bit over time, but I think ballpark, it’s about there.”

According to Griffais, the Steam Machine will be around the same as a built PC from parts that would get you to the same level of performance.

“I think that if you build a PC from parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that’s the general price window that we aim to be at,” he said. “Ideally, we’d be pretty competitive with that and have a pretty good deal, but we’re working on refining that as we speak. Right now is just a hard time to have a really good idea of what the price is going to be because there’s a lot of different things… a lot of external things.”

With that in mind, many believe that the Steam Machine will likely cost above $750. For perspective, the base PS5 with a disc drive costs $549.99. The PS5 Digital Edition costs $499.99. The PS5 Pro costs $749.99.

During the interview, Griffais also confirmed that Valve isn’t going to follow suit with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo regarding tariffs and how they have been selling the system at a loss but making it up with game and accessory sales.

“No. It’s more in-line with what you might expect from the current PC market. Obviously, our goal is for it to be a good deal at that level of performance,” he said.

The pricing will also take into account some of the Steam Machine’s unique features like its small form factor and reduced noise level that Valve says it’s achieved. “We’re excited that people are going to find out how quiet this thing is,” he said. The Steam Machine also integrates HDMI and CEC, and allows people to turn their TV on and off straight from the device. Additionally, it makes use of new Bluetooth and wireless connectivity systems that Valve designed. “That’s all hard to do,” Griffais said.

“So being able to sit down on your couch, press one button on your controller, and the whole thing lights up like you’d expect for a thing that’s in your living room, I think that’s really valuable. And there’s not really a price point to that because it’s not really something that exists in the PC market right now,” he explained.

Designer Lawrence Yang explained how another factor that would factor into the pricing is how people would rather pay a little more for a company like Valve to do the work for them instead of building it themselves.  “For me one of the benefits of Steam Machine is, I’m someone who used to build my PC in college and I am too old and tired to do that now!”

While some argue that the Steam Machine will cost somewhere in between $700-800, others believe that $400 will be a sweet spot. Some argue that it will cost more than $1,000.

Tariffs, surging memory / storage costs, supply chain volatility and an inability to subsidize to the same extent as traditional console manufacturers are all working against Valve at the moment

That being said, the specs suggest Valve wanted this to be in line with PS5 pricing https://t.co/y19avgcguF

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) November 20, 2025

“Tariffs, surging memory / storage costs, supply chain volatility, and an inability to subsidize to the same extent as traditional console manufacturers are all working against Valve at the moment,” Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad said. “That being said, the specs suggest Valve wanted this to be in line with PS5 pricing.”