Valve's highly anticipated Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller are facing a significant delay, and the ongoing RAM crisis is poised to dramatically impact their pricing! When Valve first unveiled these exciting new pieces of hardware back in November, the initial announcement suggested that customers could expect them to start shipping in early 2026. In fact, some journalists were given a more specific target of the first quarter of 2026. However, the tech world is currently grappling with a severe shortage of memory and storage components, and this global crunch has forced Valve to push back the launch. The new target is now sometime within the first half of this year, and Valve has explicitly stated they will be revisiting and potentially resetting their pricing expectations for these devices as soon as they can.
Valve shared in a recent update, “We planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now. But the memory and storage shortages you’ve likely heard about across the industry have rapidly increased since then. 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).”
While the company's overarching goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year remains unchanged, Valve acknowledges that they have considerable work ahead to finalize concrete pricing and launch dates. They are keenly aware of how volatile the component market is and want to make announcements they can stand behind.
But here's where it gets controversial... When The Verge and other tech outlets had the chance to preview this new hardware, Valve was notably tight-lipped about pricing. This is a crucial detail, especially if these devices are intended to compete with established game consoles rather than high-end PCs. Valve's initial positioning for the Steam Machine was to be "closer to the entry level of the PC space." For the Steam Frame VR headset, the aim was to be priced less than their previous headset, the Index, which retailed for a hefty $999. And the Steam Controller was targeted to be competitively priced against other controllers offering "advanced inputs."
However, within days of Valve's hardware reveal last November, it became evident that achieving competitive pricing would be a monumental challenge, especially with the astronomical rise in RAM costs. Valve itself admitted to Tom's Hardware that pricing the console was difficult because "the market is kind of weird" and "memory prices are going up like right as we speak." As of early 2026, PC gamers have witnessed RAM prices triple, and in some cases, quadruple. This surge is largely due to memory manufacturers prioritizing the more lucrative AI server market, diverting supply away from consumer electronics.
And this is the part most people miss... Yesterday, AMD CEO Lisa Su commented on an earnings call, stating, “From a product standpoint, Valve is on track to begin shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year.” It appears the crucial qualifier "from a product standpoint" carried far more weight than initially perceived, hinting at the internal production challenges rather than a smooth path to market.
What are your thoughts on this delay and the potential price hikes? Do you think Valve can still make these devices competitive in the current market? Let us know in the comments below!
