Steam Machine may launch soon as reservation system and four retail packages surface

[DragonSlayer101]

Forward-looking: Valve is reportedly preparing a reservation system for its upcoming Steam Machine and Steam Frame to prevent a repeat of the Steam Controller launch fiasco, when scalpers snapped up most units almost immediately after they went on sale. The company expects the move will reduce scalping and allow genuine gamers to purchase the devices.

Hints about the new reservation system were found in the latest Steam update files released last week. Redditor Pepeizq, who spotted the reservation system code, also found references to at least four Steam Machine packages and two Steam Frame packages. The code also mentioned the existing Steam Controller and Steam Deck retail bundles.

The four Steam Machine packages referenced in the code suggest that the device could come in four models or bundles, including the 512GB and 2TB configurations that were previously confirmed. Online speculation suggests that the other two could be bundles that include the Steam Controller. A 1TB model may also be offered, but Valve has yet to confirm this officially.

– Chris Mizo (@MizoChris) May 10, 2026

It is unclear when the Steam Machine will be available for purchase, but the leak suggests that its official launch may not be far off. There is currently no pricing information, but the device is reportedly expected to be significantly more expensive than originally anticipated, largely due to an AI-driven RAM shortage.

Our recent opinion column disagrees: This is Why You Won't Buy a Steam Machine in 2026 – Component Prices Have Nearly Doubled Since Valve First Revealed the Steam Machine

Valve introduced a reservation system for its new Steam Controller last week after the entire stock sold out within minutes of launch, with most units snapped up by scalpers and resellers. The device, which officially costs $99, was later listed on platforms such as Amazon and eBay at heavily inflated prices, with many reselling for up to $300.

The widespread scalping and price gouging prompted Valve to rethink its sales strategy. The company has since implemented a reservation system to allow genuine customers to purchase the controller without paying inflated reseller prices. To deter scalpers, Valve is also only honoring reservations from Steam accounts that made at least one purchase before April 27.

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Steam Machine may launch soon as reservation system and four retail packages surface

 

[Burty117]

They only talk about two different models on the Steam page though, a 512GB and 2TB model, now I go back and look at it, I'm not seeing it anywhere, but I swear they said every Steam Machine would be bundled with a Steam Controller?

Maybe to try and make that price look some what reasonable, they'll sell them separately.

 

[m4a4]

Maybe to try and make that price look some what reasonable, they'll sell them separately.

Honestly, I would say it would be fine for most of the people interested in this. But for the few that don't pay attention to a "does not come with a controller" warning (however big), they would make a stink and bug customer support. It would look bad regardless of fault.

If you ask anyone, they'd say a console is expected to come with a controller.

 

[m4a4]

Good guy Valve showing the big guys what being pro-consumer is about.

Mind you, they happen to have a system in place where they can much more easily accomplish this, but it is nice to see that they are giving scalpers the middle finger.

 

[The Talking Tech]

The Steam machine has the Switch 2 syndrome....overpriced and underpowered = Total Rip-off.

 

[Subset6]

"Valve is reportedly preparing a reservation system for its upcoming Steam Machine and Steam Frame to prevent a repeat of the Steam Controller launch fiasco, when scalpers snapped up most units almost immediately after they went on sale"

There is no evidence that scalpers "snapped up" most of the units. r/steamcontroller says otherwise, most went to legit customers.

 

[brucek]

Scalping is especially likely when you charge less for your product than many customers are willing to pay.

Given current hardware pricing, I'm not sure this is going to be much of a problem in this particular case.

 

[Rapob]

999 dollars for 8GB VRAM? Remember this is just a compact PC using a somewhat weak APU.

I remember when the price was 499 including one controller (Rumour), sounded too good to be true tho and it was.

RAM/SSD crisis might have destroyed this machine. No way I am paying 800-1000 dollars for a weak APU, meant to play unoptimized PC games. Only if HL3 is an exclusive title. Haha.

Real consoles at least gets superior optimization from developers. Doubt many developers are going to bother much about the "Steam Machine" version, when the majority (lets say 98-99%) will buy and play the Windows version. PC version needs to work on 1000s of different specs.

I sadly expect AAA games to run very bad on the Steam Machine, especially due to having just 8GB VRAM (fine for medium settings but should have had 12GB VRAM really)

For older and indie games it will do well but any old system do this well and you might as well build your own compact PC from used or cheap parts, if you can find RAM/SSD cheap or already have some.

In this day and age, there is no such thing as cheap hardware. Low-end is pretty much dead and mid-end is way more expensive now. High-end is for the top 5-10%

The only good thing about this, is maybe developers gets better at optimizing their software.

 

[OortCloud]

Supposedly there are 2 memory SKUs - one with 512GB and one with 2TB. So to make 4 I'm guessing either. With or without a Steam Controller. Or maybe 8GB/16GB RAM?

It's so unfortunate that these look like launching right at the worst point in the AI Tech-Bro sh1tshow. The pricing will make them so much less compelling.

 

[Rapob]

Supposedly there are 2 memory SKUs - one with 512GB and one with 2TB. So to make 4 I'm guessing either. With or without a Steam Controller. Or maybe 8GB/16GB RAM?

It's so unfortunate that these look like launching right at the worst point in the AI Tech-Bro sh1tshow. The pricing will make them so much less compelling.

This is not the worst point, AI did not even take off yet, you will see in the next 5-10 years

The limiting factor for AI is production, not demand. Demand is vastly higher than production right now, which is why they build new factories all over and also why Elon wants to do TeraFab asap. This will take years but will be worth it anyway. Chip demand will only get (much) higher.

In 10 years we need at least 10 times the chip production of today. We also need 10 times the energy.

Consumer stuff will slowly but surely be moved to cheaper nodes in the coming years. Peak nodes will be for enterprise, or high-end consumer stuff only.

This is the only way to lower prices for consumers. Especially people wanting low to mid-end stuff and low prices.

 

[OortCloud]

This is not the worst point, AI did not even take off yet, you will see in the next 5-10 years

The limiting factor for AI is production, not demand. Demand is vastly higher than production right now, which is why they build new factories all over and also why Elon wants to do TeraFab asap. This will take years but will be worth it anyway. Chip demand will only get (much) higher.

In 10 years we need at least 10 times the chip production of today. We also need 10 times the energy.

Consumer stuff will slowly but surely be moved to cheaper nodes in the coming years. Peak nodes will be for enterprise, or high-end consumer stuff only.

This is the only way to lower prices for consumers. Especially people wanting low to mid-end stuff and low prices.

I'm not so sure about that. I think the world is starting to wake up to the bullsh1t this current 'AI' really is. It has some incredible uses but it is and never will be intelligent, it's a pattern matching model which can give the illusion of intelligence but has none at all. It will always make really bad decisions occasionally because of what it is. When Jensen said they had achieved AGI it really did nothing more than show just how much of a lie the whole thing is. It has absolutely zero intelligence and is as far from an AGI as you can get. Unfortunately because it is such a barn-door-engineered way of faking intelligence it is also incredibly inefficient. Hence we need huge warehouses full of computers just to keep the illusion flickering but it's a paper-thin and time after time is shown to have limited utility. Unfortunately there are a whole bunch of crooks and chancers in charge at the moment and they are determined to keep the plates spinning as long as they can but I do feel 90% of them will come crashing down soon when they realise they will never be able to successfully monetize something that requires so much energy just to draw a picture of Donald Trump as Jesus. Wake me up when somebody produces a real AGI - people in the know about these things think it's about a decade away.

 

[Northy]

Kudos to Steam for standing against scalpers, if only Sony had done the same with PS5.

Looking forward to the performance reviews as well. If this deals anything like a Playstation I'll be after one.

 

[Rapob]

I'm not so sure about that. I think the world is starting to wake up to the bullsh1t this current 'AI' really is. It has some incredible uses but it is and never will be intelligent, it's a pattern matching model which can give the illusion of intelligence but has none at all. It will always make really bad decisions occasionally because of what it is. When Jensen said they had achieved AGI it really did nothing more than show just how much of a lie the whole thing is. It has absolutely zero intelligence and is as far from an AGI as you can get. Unfortunately because it is such a barn-door-engineered way of faking intelligence it is also incredibly inefficient. Hence we need huge warehouses full of computers just to keep the illusion flickering but it's a paper-thin and time after time is shown to have limited utility. Unfortunately there are a whole bunch of crooks and chancers in charge at the moment and they are determined to keep the plates spinning as long as they can but I do feel 90% of them will come crashing down soon when they realise they will never be able to successfully monetize something that requires so much energy just to draw a picture of Donald Trump as Jesus. Wake me up when somebody produces a real AGI - people in the know about these things think it's about a decade away.

You don't work in tech I see, AI is still in its infancy and most companies spend more and more money on AI, the ROI on AI starts getting better but companies have their eyes on the end goal:

Agentic AI, and we are not even close at this point, we need tons of proessing power and energy, this is what companies are gearing up to

Hardware demand won't go down in the next 5-10 years, it will only rise from here

No need to argue about it tho, just wait and see, AI is the future in tech business and most other businesses - they all know it, they don't spend billions for fun

 

[OortCloud]

You don't work in tech I see

Little childish remarks like this are so teeth-clenchingly irritating. I've worked in tech for 40 years. As I said 90% of these companies wont survive this AI boom. It's always the same way. A new fad comes along, there is massive over-investment, then from the wreckage emerge a few players who go on to make a great deal of money. I believe hardware demand will absolutely go down as we settle into a more normal situation where there are no longer hundreds of companies trying to win the race and as ways of doing these models become less inefficient. This has happened before and will happen again.

 

[Rapob]

Little childish remarks like this are so teeth-clenchingly irritating. I've worked in tech for 40 years. As I said 90% of these companies wont survive this AI boom. It's always the same way. A new fad comes along, there is massive over-investment, then from the wreckage emerge a few players who go on to make a great deal of money. I believe hardware demand will absolutely go down as we settle into a more normal situation where there are no longer hundreds of companies trying to win the race and as ways of doing these models become less inefficient. This has happened before and will happen again.

Stop with the jokes please

AI will boom for years to come, mark my words

Prediction, 10 times the hardware requirement in 5 years. Chip production is a huge bottleneck currently.

Hence why Elon Musk builds TeraFab, he knows that even in several years, the need for chips will be massive, you have seen nothing yet

You sound like someone who completely missed the AI train and just want to get back to normal, sorry to break this to you, this is the new normal.