cross-posted from: https://pawb.social/post/46074025

Valve’s Steam Machine finally has a price: a whopping $1,049 for the 512GB configuration or $1,349 for the 2TB version. And those are without bundled controllers, which drive up the cost more.

The prices are so high in part because Valve isn’t subsidizing the hardware, and the company has already indicated that the component crisis forced it to reconsider its initial pricing plans. In an interview with the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus, Valve engineers discussed the reality of sourcing RAM in 2026, with take-it-or-leave-it prices as memory and other components remain in short supply, from only a few vendors like Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix.

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Valve, of course, isn’t the only company in a bind over memory shortages, as the crunch is forcing many hardware makers to make significant pricing changes. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook is warning of incoming price hikes for iPhones, Macs, and other devices. And the RAM crunch isn’t projected to get better anytime soon.

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    12 hours ago

    Valve hasn’t shared its original planned price for the Steam Machine. But the recent price increases to the Steam Deck OLED — up $240 for the 512GB version, and up $300 for the 1TB version — “should give you a ballpark estimate of how much the Steam Machine’s target had moved,” according to an Aftermath interview with Valve. Subtracting those same price hikes from the current Steam Machine prices nets out at theoretical original prices of $809 for the 512GB model and $1,049 for the 2TB model.