Valve confirms the Steam Machine will be priced like a PC, not a console

[midian182]

Crystal ball: With Valve positioning the Steam Machine as a competitor to the current-gen consoles, many expected it to be priced as such – I.e., around or under $500. But a Valve engineer has confirmed that the device will not be subsidized in the way consoles are, and will instead be priced more in line with the PC market.

The potential price of the Steam Machine has been hotly debated. With comparisons to the Xbox One and PS5 – and some using the "hybrid PC/Console" description – the expectation was that Valve would price the device closer to a console than a PC with the equivalent hardware.

In an interview with SkilUp, Valve software engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais seemingly put that theory to rest. When asked if Valve was planning to subsidize the Steam Machine, selling it at a loss in order to grow the market share or category, Griffais was emphatic in his answer.

"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. And then you have features that are actually really hard to build if you are making your own gaming PC from parts," the engineer explained.

"Things like the small form factor, the noise level that we achieved, or lack thereof, is really impressive and we are excited that people are going to find out how quiet this thing is. But also some integration features like HDMI CEC. The Bluetooth and wireless work that we've done, the four antennas, the very deliberate design so that you can have a great experience with four Bluetooth controllers."

Console makers are able to subsidize their machines by selling the hardware at little or no profit – sometimes even at a loss – and making their money back through long-term revenue streams: a cut of game sales, licensing fees from third-party publishers, subscription services, and accessories.

Because the lifetime value of each customer is far higher than the upfront cost of the console, companies can afford to price the hardware aggressively to grow their user base. But Valve isn't going down the same route.

The bottom line is that the Steam Machine will likely cost around the same as a PC with the equivalent hardware. A redditor recently priced a PC build with the same or equivalent specs as Valve's device. It came to $770.

Build with exact Steam Machine specs is $770, so it can't really be more than that.
byu/taranasus inSteam

One issue that could really affect pricing is the global memory shortage and subsequent skyrocketing prices – the result of AI hoarding all the DRAM. DDR5 prices have doubled; there are reports that Nvidia and AMD could kill some low- to mid-range cards; and system builders are panic-buying memory. The situation could be even worse when the Steam Machine arrives, so we might be looking at a price of at least $800.

Earlier this month, Valve talked about its decision to use an 8GB GPU in the Steam Machine. The company claimed that despite the limited amount of VRAM, it still outperforms 70% of gaming PCs.

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Valve confirms the Steam Machine will be priced like a PC, not a console

 

[SirDigby]

They really should subsidize it a little, Valve makes an insane amount of money, iirc $17bn with ~350 employees? I know Gabe has just bought a new superyacht thinking tactically, some penetration pricing combined with Steam's famously good steam sales is bound to sway some away from consoles, plus existing PC gamers can bring their library with them.
I think subsidise the Machine and make a profit on the accessories and games like usual.

 

[BbN48]

If you're not even getting a discount on the machine itself, why would you buy a mid range, already somewhat outdated computer?

 

[yRaz]

I find it hilarious they haven't even announced pricing yet and people with rigs better than it are angry at it.. it's silly that people with high end PCs are mad about this. People driving a Ferrari shouldn't be complaining about the seats in a base model Honda. Then there is the third option, don't like it? Don't buy it. Go build your own if you think you can do it cheaper.

 

[Rudyduu]

I find it hilarious they haven't even announced pricing yet and people with rigs better than it are angry at it.. it's silly that people with high end PCs are mad about this. People driving a Ferrari shouldn't be complaining about the seats in a base model Honda. Then there is the third option, don't like it? Don't buy it. Go build your own if you think you can do it cheaper.

How can you possibly know enough people who are complaining about the pricing and what computer they already have to make such statements?

You think only people with Ferrari money can afford to spend $4000 on a computer? The cheapest new Ferrari is just over $200k. A $4000 computer is in a much lower tax bracket that someone who can afford to buy or finance a $200k luxury car.

They really should subsidize it a little...plus existing PC gamers can bring their library with them.
I think subsidise the Machine and make a profit on the accessories and games like usual.

If people bring their existing Steam library with them and never buy another game Valve won't make their money back if they subsidize the cost of them. That's why they aren't being subsidized.

I'm just going to build my own Steam Machine with a 5700x and a 6650XT video card.

 

[Axeia]

Imo anything over 700 and it will struggle after the pre order wave passes.

Being small and quiet is nice but PCs have a lot more flexibility when it comes to upgrading. It's not like it has high end specs either, they're already on the lower end and it's not even out yet. The $770 in the article is because it tries to go like for like. Substitute the graphics for an Intel card or get one or more components used (because actual PCs are flexible like that) and the PC will end up cheaper and more upgradable.

If they want to charge prices similar to HP/Dell etc prebuilds then imo they need to target the same retail channels as well and have them somewhere where people run into them in real life like Walmart and Aldi etc.

Id say for 700 it will still sell well. Up to 900 they will struggle unless Microsoft hands them the win and sticks even more unwanted 'features' in windows. More than that and I think they're down to people who really specifically want one.

Imo if I was the Intel CEO I'd get people started on a super cost competitive competitor and win the gaming market back. Basically a modern version of the Intel Hades Canyon NUC but this time fully Intel powered. They got the small form factor and hardware expertise all in house, heck they even have a ton of Linux Devs if they want to fork SteamOS (or optimize Bazite for their own platform)

 

[ScottSoapbox]

It was probably going to be $699 but now… -shrug-

 

[yRaz]

It was probably going to be $699 but now… -shrug-

That's my thing, with product shortages and price increases this thing could go over $1000 and still be cheaper than what you could build yourself. Prices are surging in storage, memory and chips. If I were valve, I wouldn't even try to put a price on it until it was ready for release with how volatile the markets are.

They say it will be competitively priced with PCs. The problem is we will have no idea how much a PC will cost next week, who knows a few months from now.

 

[Kirby1]

I find it hilarious they haven't even announced pricing yet and people with rigs better than it are angry at it.. it's silly that people with high end PCs are mad about this. People driving a Ferrari shouldn't be complaining about the seats in a base model Honda. Then there is the third option, don't like it? Don't buy it. Go build your own if you think you can do it cheaper.

When you typed this out did you think you were being clever?

Think again.

If this is priced like a PC then it should be $500 because there are laptops with the same specs or better for less.

 

[CrisisDog]

I have a mini PC that can outperform this thing, even being able to play Cyberpunk at 4K - 60 FPS with medium / high settings. I paid $700 and have a dedicated GPU built in. Sounds like this will be using an iGPU, so I would find a hard time paying more than $600 for it.

 

[m4a4]

I mean, yeah. You'd have to be pretty entitled to think Valve owes you one of these subsidized after learning that it can't really be, since it doesn't force you to buy games on their store (which is a good thing for consumers).

It's meant to be another option for people to choose from; one that has a more console-like convenience. And if they're misjudging the (niche?) audience their targeting? Then they're not losing out because the margins are so small or in the negatives...

 

[SirDigby]

If people bring their existing Steam library with them and never buy another game Valve won't make their money back if they subsidize the cost of them. That's why they aren't being subsidized.

I'm just going to build my own Steam Machine with a 5700x and a 6650XT video card.

Just speaking from experience, I've bought a lot of games that I wouldn't play on my PC, but I love playing on my steam deck, it fulfils a different need for me, and I think Steam Machine will fit nicely in the middle. I think the emphasis on bringing your steam library with you means you will *continue* to buy steam games. It's an advantage for Valve/SM that Xbox Game Pass doesn't run natively on SteamOS, I think it leads to people buying more games as well.

 

[Dreadcthulhu]

Gaming laptops with comparable specs regularly go on sale for less than $700; for example, right now on Walmart you can grab an Acer Nitro with a Ryzen 240, 16 GB RAM, 512 SSD, and RTX 5050 for all of $630. So if something like that (which also has a screen & battery) can be sold and presumably make a profit, then the Steam Machine should be possible to sell for even less and still be profitable.

 

[Rudyduu]

Imo anything over 700 and it will struggle after the pre order wave passes.

Being small and quiet is nice but PCs have a lot more flexibility when it comes to upgrading. It's not like it has high end specs either, they're already on the lower end and it's not even out yet. The $770 in the article is because it tries to go like for like. Substitute the graphics for an Intel card or get one or more components used (because actual PCs are flexible like that) and the PC will end up cheaper and more upgradable.

If they want to charge prices similar to HP/Dell etc prebuilds then imo they need to target the same retail channels as well and have them somewhere where people run into them in real life like Walmart and Aldi etc.

Id say for 700 it will still sell well. Up to 900 they will struggle unless Microsoft hands them the win and sticks even more unwanted 'features' in windows. More than that and I think they're down to people who really specifically want one.

Imo if I was the Intel CEO I'd get people started on a super cost competitive competitor and win the gaming market back. Basically a modern version of the Intel Hades Canyon NUC but this time fully Intel powered. They got the small form factor and hardware expertise all in house, heck they even have a ton of Linux Devs if they want to fork SteamOS (or optimize Bazite for their own platform)

Did you see the prices of the Haded Canyon NUC, though? Making a computer smaller costs money.

Just speaking from experience, I've bought a lot of games that I wouldn't play on my PC, but I love playing on my steam deck, it fulfils a different need for me, and I think Steam Machine will fit nicely in the middle. I think the emphasis on bringing your steam library with you means you will *continue* to buy steam games. It's an advantage for Valve/SM that Xbox Game Pass doesn't run natively on SteamOS, I think it leads to people buying more games as well.

There is no guarantee people will buy enough games on steam to pay for the hardware which is why Valve isn't subsidizing the cost for the Steam Machine at this time.

 

[yRaz]

Gaming laptops with comparable specs regularly go on sale for less than $700; for example, right now on Walmart you can grab an Acer Nitro with a Ryzen 240, 16 GB RAM, 512 SSD, and RTX 5050 for all of $630. So if something like that (which also has a screen & battery) can be sold and presumably make a profit, then the Steam Machine should be possible to sell for even less and still be profitable.

They have been going on sale, they won't be soon. It will be priced similarly to what other systems are when it is released. Just look at what happened to GPUs during COVID, what is happening to things now and the idea that it can't happen again or get worse is ludicrous. They aren't talking about pricing because even valve has no idea what their costs are going to be by the time it gets released. If the steam deck is anything to go by, they do price their products competitively

 

[NumberNine]

I already have a PC.

 

[MaXtor]

The best reasoning I’ve heard is that it’s an actual PC; it's not locked down. it can run Windows. If Valve subsidized it, corporations could buy hundreds of units that would lead to zero Steam game purchases, causing Valve to lose money.

My counterargument is to limit how many units each customer can buy; say, a maximum of 3 units, with larger orders requiring review and approval by Valve.

 

[dangh]

Anything above 500 will be pushing it.

 

[Rudyduu]

The best reasoning I’ve heard is that it’s an actual PC; it's not locked down. it can run Windows. If Valve subsidized it, corporations could buy hundreds of units that would lead to zero Steam game purchases, causing Valve to lose money.

My counterargument is to limit how many units each customer can buy; say, a maximum of 3 units, with larger orders requiring review and approval by Valve.

Terrible counter argument. There is no benefit for Valve to sell these computers at a loss. It's only good for gamers in the short term if they are partially subsidized by Valve. How would Valve control who purchases subsidized Steam Machines to ensure only people who will spend a significant amount of money on their store gets a lower priced computer? You know what's easier? Selling them at a profit. That way no matter who buys them they make a profit. I know you want a $100 gaming computer, but that just isn't going to happen. Valve isn't a charity they have to make a profit, subsidizing a gaming computer that can play games from anyone's store is just too risky.

 

[Rudyduu]

Anything above 500 will be pushing it.

It's not going to be less than $600 and perhaps not even less than $700. It's a compact gaming computer and as soon as anything is shrunk down it's going to be more expensive right off the bat.

 

[MaXtor]

Terrible counter argument. There is no benefit for Valve to sell these computers at a loss. It's only good for gamers in the short term if they are partially subsidized by Valve. How would Valve control who purchases subsidized Steam Machines to ensure only people who will spend a significant amount of money on their store gets a lower priced computer? You know what's easier? Selling them at a profit. That way no matter who buys them they make a profit. I know you want a $100 gaming computer, but that just isn't going to happen. Valve isn't a charity they have to make a profit, subsidizing a gaming computer that can play games from anyone's store is just too risky.

The benefit is the same as consoles selling at a loss (or near cost). It increases sales of the console which results in more game sales (to which Valve takes a 30% cut). Now, obviously Valve's situation is different as I pointed out. They simply require a way to ensure the vast majority of console sales are going to people who are likely purchase games, be it an individual in America or a gaming cafe in Asia.

As a business owner who sells B2B with free samples being our greatest means of marketing. If we gave free samples to everyone who requested them, we would be out of business fast. It takes just a little due diligence, which any company could do.

However, it sounds like they're not going to go this route. So, at least for me, their console is not enticing. Why not just build your own PC, or buy a prebuilt and install Bazzite (if you want the SteamOS experience)? What's the benefit to buying dated hardware with non upgrade-able CPU/GPU? If they're okay with a very niche product, then I guess it's fine.

 

[dangh]

It's not going to be less than $600 and perhaps not even less than $700. It's a compact gaming computer and as soon as anything is shrunk down it's going to be more expensive right off the bat.

you can build better, extendable sff pc for less than 700 in a 7 liters case. You can even get a minipc with a oculink and still get it below 700, and you still can put any gpu you'd wish.
$700 for a steam deck will be doa, just for collectors and some non techies who dont have already a switch.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

That's my thing, with product shortages and price increases this thing could go over $1000 and still be cheaper than what you could build yourself. Prices are surging in storage, memory and chips. If I were valve, I wouldn't even try to put a price on it until it was ready for release with how volatile the markets are.

They say it will be competitively priced with PCs. The problem is we will have no idea how much a PC will cost next week, who knows a few months from now.

I built a new PC this summer for my home office.
The 4TB WD Black PCIe 4 was $260, now it's $350.
The 96GB DDR5 6000 (2x48) was $265, now it's $980!!!
Crazy!

 

[yRaz]

I built a new PC this summer for my home office.
The 4TB WD Black PCIe 4 was $260, now it's $350.
The 96GB DDR5 6000 (2x48) was $265, now it's $980!!!
Crazy!

Memory prices are insane, they don't make any sense. This is worse than the original DDR5 pricing, a drug habit is cheaper. My next "gaming PC" is likely to be a laptop, anyway. I spend so much time on the road that I end up gaming on my personal Intel laptop I'm hotel rooms and it isn't exactly the best. It's about half as powerful as a steam deck but I'm such a mouse and keyboard guy that I end up playing on it anyway. I'm currently playing WH40k: Rogue Trader so I can only really play that on the laptop.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Memory prices are insane, they don't make any sense. This is worse than the original DDR5 pricing, a drug habit is cheaper. My next "gaming PC" is likely to be a laptop, anyway. I spend so much time on the road that I end up gaming on my personal Intel laptop I'm hotel rooms and it isn't exactly the best. It's about half as powerful as a steam deck but I'm such a mouse and keyboard guy that I end up playing on it anyway. I'm currently playing WH40k: Rogue Trader so I can only really play that on the laptop.

For travel, it's hard to beat a laptop for simplicity on those types of games. I mean, you could add a keyboard, mouse, and portable screen to a steamdeck but at that point, you have a laptop.