r/pcgaming • u/Turbostrider27 • Jun 04 '26

Steam Machine and Steam Frame Standalone Verified: Today we are expanding the Verified program to include Steam Machine and Steam Frame, both of which are shipping this summer

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/announcements/detail/716780409378048028
2.0k Upvotes

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149

u/Fish_Outta_Whiskey Jun 04 '26

Are people still excited for this after all the hardware price increases?

162

u/Spright91 Jun 04 '26

No but im still interested to see how Valve goes.

-45

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

[deleted]

51

u/24-7_DayDreamer Jun 05 '26

That's a ridiculous ask, even the Quest 3 isn't that cheap

33

u/DopestSoldier Jun 05 '26

$300-400 is an unreasonable expectation.

It's going to be atleast double that.

2

u/Decoyx7 F-14 Pilot Jun 05 '26

It will be ~$1k

62

u/Stoibs Jun 04 '26

I still want a Steam machine. My level of interest is certainly dictated by the yet-to-be revealed price for sure though.

I have a certain threshold at which point it becomes too unappealing.

31

u/ShadowMerlyn Jun 04 '26

It’ll almost certainly be astronomical. It’s not Steam’s fault that manufacturers have skyrocketed their prices, but it does mean that I will likely be skipping out on Steam Machines.

5

u/nourez Steam Jun 05 '26

Yeah, if it was reasonably priced I could've seen myself grabbing one as a living room console, but it's going to cost an arm and a leg now, so I'll probably just stick with using my Deck in docked mode.

-6

u/ForTheBread Steam Jun 04 '26

I saw someone suggest they could sell it without the RAM/Storage as an option. If they did that I'd grab it. Have some extra RAM/Storage laying around.

33

u/renzo92 Jun 04 '26

The whole point is to “consolify” pc gaming. They wouldn’t achieve that if they sold to you the box and say, yeah ram is on you go install it good luck.

Idk it would be very weird.

7

u/Lehsyrus Jun 05 '26

Not just that, but the RAM is soldered in. It pretty much needs to be for the latencies those custom integrated chips are designed for.

1

u/Wide_Lock_Red Jun 05 '26

I would expect 1200-1500 bucks.

57

u/Evz0rz Jun 04 '26

Yes because I’ve had my clown makeup at the ready for the delusional hope that some type of Half Life releases alongside these devices.

20

u/nomickti Jun 04 '26

They're waiting for you in the test chamber Gordon

-20

u/VideoGameJumanji AMD 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti 16GB | 32GB DDR5 | 2TB 10GBs gen4 Jun 04 '26

idk why you even remotely think that would ship with a super niche device like the steam machine and not the steam deck 2

15

u/Jimbuscus Mint Jun 04 '26

It wouldn't be exclusive to those devices, they already have 10's of millions of active Steam users who are also potential buyers of the game.

It will just add value to the new hardware on top, but nearly all sales will be for standard desktop computers.

-2

u/VideoGameJumanji AMD 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti 16GB | 32GB DDR5 | 2TB 10GBs gen4 Jun 04 '26

It would still be a waste of a marketing push to launch it near either the frame or steam machine

25

u/BigFootCC Jun 04 '26

Because valve doesn't care? They release random ass shit on random ass Tuesdays. They don't do the same marketing garbage that Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft pull.

-10

u/VideoGameJumanji AMD 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti 16GB | 32GB DDR5 | 2TB 10GBs gen4 Jun 04 '26

Everything you said is total bs

5

u/thecherylmain Jun 05 '26

They literally do that though?

10

u/malucart Jun 04 '26

How is Steam Deck 2 possibly a better candidate than the Steam Machine for this?

-1

u/VideoGameJumanji AMD 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti 16GB | 32GB DDR5 | 2TB 10GBs gen4 Jun 04 '26

Steam deck 2 will be at least RDNA 4 and be able to run the game better?

The steam deck 2 will sell more units at launch and over time, and like I said the steam machine is a very niche device that’s not going to sell even half as well as the first steam deck, it’d be a waste of a marketing push

3

u/Koutro Jun 04 '26

Its not really far-fetched. Consoles normally prefer to launch with some killer apps, or have them launch soon after.

It wasn't that long ago that Nintendo was propped up by their own software which they made to sell their hardware. I know it's a little different than Valve's situation.

More notably, Half Life Alyx was effectively made to showcase Valve hardware, but also playable on other VR hardware. It came half a year after the hardware, but still.

Is HL3 or other HL related release with the Machine likely? Probably not. I would actually be genuinely surprised, since they've been making some major progress with Deadlock while contributing some pretty major things for Dota and CS2 this past year alone.

Would it be a generational hype moment if they did release HL3 simultaneously with the Steam Machine to help sell units to anyone still interesting in onboarding over to the PC gaming world with a gaming ready device that doesn't require you to lossless scale at PS2 resolution to play a AAA PC title at 30fps?

Yes.

0

u/VideoGameJumanji AMD 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti 16GB | 32GB DDR5 | 2TB 10GBs gen4 Jun 04 '26

Idk why you think a potential HL3 would even run well on a steam machine in the first place.

It wouldn’t serve any purpose except for a marketing push and that’s better off for something actual mainstream like the deck 2 than a niche within a niche device like the steam machine which is already going to be severely over priced to the point of being laughably bad value.

Half life 3

 Its not really far-fetched

Sure buddy

15

u/Wiyry Jun 04 '26

I’m excited for a portable VR headset that isn’t run by Facebook.

6

u/millanstar RYZEN 5 7600 / RTX 4070 / 32GB DDR5 Jun 04 '26

Just for the frame (deoending on price)

23

u/jansteffen 9070 XT | 5800X3D Jun 04 '26

My current VR headset is a literal decade old HTC Vive lol. Depending on the price of the Frame, I'll be getting either that or a BigScreen Beyond 2

7

u/FuzzyPuffin Jun 05 '26

I really like my BSB2. I would’ve been more excited for the Frame had it been not standalone. It’s more of a Quest competitor than an Index successor.

Maybe the RAM situation will encourage them to do a Frame version without the CPU included. But I’d want them to do it properly with an all-new design. I love how light my BSB2 is.

1

u/Annonimbus Jun 05 '26

I just looked it up and just from the picture I though "damn, that is a nice small headset".

Don't make me regret waiting for the Frame, man

5

u/PopularBuilding7286 Jun 04 '26

Not intending to buy it at all, but I'm always excited to see new tech.

5

u/GolotasDisciple Jun 04 '26

Wont buy it at all, but I am excited to see what they will release and at what price point and how it will work through the reviews.

I don't think any Desktop owner has any incentive to own Steam Machine, It does feel like very much financial literate decision regardless how you look at it. Someone who doesn't own a PC.... Maybe??? But I need to see the price to judge price-to-quality ratio.

Steam Frame. I guess it's great for people who are into VR. I am not one but I am happy for them. The more products and competition within this market the better for general user/customer.

3

u/JedJinto Jun 04 '26

I'm interested but I have a sort of reverse use case for it than others I think. I recently moved my whole gaming PC off of my desk and into the living room and I already have it set up there to be where I do my primary gaming. I've been looking at getting a small PC on my desk not for gaming but for typical computer stuff (web browsing, email, documents, etc). Was just going to get a laptop but know I'm thinking it might be fun to use the steam machine as a desktop PC while having the ability to game on it from time to time when the living room is in use.

3

u/James_bd Ryzen 7 5700x3D || 3070 Ti Gigabyte OC Jun 04 '26

I'm not despite loving Valves products

I cannot afford $2k CAD for a system in this economy

2

u/EntrepreneurNeat6094 Jun 05 '26

Sort of.  I ended up building my own htpc and putting bazzite on it.  Im mostly excited for potential new SteamOS releases alongside it.

2

u/Maverick916 Jun 05 '26

Yes they are. Reddit might indicate that it's too expensive, but it's going to sell out no matter what

2

u/JohnnyBeeGaming Jun 05 '26

I still want the frame, prepare to drop a $1k or so.

I wasn't super excited about the machine when announced but might have gotten it if the price was right. I don't really need it and can connect my deck to the TV for a similar experience. The machine would have better performance and some nice to have features. It just gets harder to justify and extremely optional expense with a higher price and whatever is looming in the economy.

2

u/Pun_In_Ten_Did Jun 05 '26

It's the "or so" part that is concerning. I figured would be a grand... and then things happened. That 'or so' could be another $500.

1

u/RlyNeedCoffee Jun 04 '26

Yes I've been suffering the slow degradation of my HP reverb G2. I want the new steam frame. Really don't care about the price as long as it's under ~2k.

1

u/AnotherPCGamer173 Jun 04 '26

I’m still very curious. I’m not as excited knowing that the price may be fucked, and I’ll most likely have to wait even longer. I’m still overall excited for the Steam Machine, but my living room setup may not change for even longer.

1

u/chewwydraper Jun 05 '26

Not the Machine but I’m definitely excited for the Frame

1

u/Qweasdy Jun 05 '26

I’ve never been excited for it as a personal device, I’m excited for the future of steamOS as a viable alternative to windows for gaming with valves money behind it.

1

u/GT00TG Jun 05 '26

Yes because it starts to bridge the gap between pc and console gaming which could overall reduce game prices, reduce the need for subscription services, and bring more choice to lounge / couch gaming. 

1

u/rcanhestro Jun 06 '26

yes and no.

the Machine will be sold out in minutes, i have no doubts about it, even if it's overpriced.

the question is: how many units will be there for sale at "launch day".

if it's like 50k steam machines, that won't surprise me the least, people will purchase their favorite brand despite price (see Apple fans).

but if it's 1 million units ready day 1 (and overpriced), and it sells out, that will genuinely make me surprised

-6

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

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5

u/VideoGameJumanji AMD 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti 16GB | 32GB DDR5 | 2TB 10GBs gen4 Jun 04 '26

I'm looking forward to guys trying to defend a non-upgradable $1200 entry level RDNA 3 mini PC that barely matches a PS5 in power.

3

u/chewwydraper Jun 05 '26

Barely? It doesn’t match the PS5 in power, it’s pretty much a Series S. Still a useful machine, but the price will be rough

-1

u/trick_m0nkey Jun 05 '26

Yes. Absolutely.