Valve announced a whole slate of new hardware back in November, with the Steam Machine being the most exciting one of the bunch. While no release date or pricing details were announced, Valve did state that it would be made available in the first half of 2026. That hasn’t changed, according to the company’s latest update, though we’ll have to wait a little longer before we’ll finally learn more about how much it’s going to cost.
Valve cited memory and storage shortages for the reason behind the delay in revealing ship dates and pricing. “When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now,” the statement reads. “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).”
The statement continues: “Our goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year has not changed. But we have work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates that we can confidently announce, being mindful of how quickly the circumstances around both of those things can change. We will keep you updated as much as we can as we finalize those plans as soon as possible.”
In the meantime, however, Valve also answered some frequently asked questions about their new hardware, which you can check out below:
Will Steam Frame support other streaming services?
SteamOS has a built-in browser, and we expect streaming services to work in a theatrical browser mode.
How can I request a Steam Frame developer kit?
Steamworks developers can submit a request for Steam Frame dev kits at the partner site here. Supplies are limited, but we are sending out kits on an ongoing basis.
Will Steam Frame work with lighthouse base stations?
It’s not something we’re working on, but we built Steam Frame to be modular and extensible so that the community and 3rd parties can build out the features and accessories that are important to them.
Can Steam Frame be used while wearing glasses?
A bunch of people on the team wear glasses and use Steam Frame without issue, but it really depends on the width of the glasses frames. And while we don’t have details to share yet, we are looking into making prescription lens inserts available ahead of launch.
I heard that Steam Frame has foveated streaming – is that the same thing as foveated rendering? What games support it?
With Steam Frame, we are introducing a new feature called foveated streaming. While both use eye tracking data, the technology is different:
• Foveated rendering uses eye tracking data so the game only renders high resolution data in the portion of the viewport that the player is looking at.
• Foveated streaming, on the other hand, uses eye tracking data so that the PC only streams high resolution data in the portion of the viewport the player is looking at.
Since foveated streaming is a system-level feature, it applies to all games, and requires no game developer work. If a game implements foveated rendering, the benefits of that feature will stack with foveated streaming.
Will Valve Index have ongoing product support?
While we’re no longer making Valve Index, we do intend to support Index owners the same way we have in the past on an ongoing basis.
How well can Steam Machine play newer, more demanding games on Steam?
In our testing the majority of Steam titles play great at 4K 60FPS with FSR on Steam Machine. That said, there are some titles that currently require more upscaling than others, and it may be preferable to play at a lower framerate with VRR to maintain a 1080p internal resolution.
In the meantime, we are working on HDMI VRR, investigating improved upscaling, and optimizing ray tracing performance in the driver, so we are approaching this from multiple angles.
Will third parties be able to make faceplates for Steam Machine? Will you be making the CAD for those faceplates available?
Yes, we plan to share faceplate CAD, specs, and details in the coming months, for customers and manufacturers to make their own.
What components of Steam Machine are upgradeable?
Steam Machine’s SSD (NVMe 2230 or 2280) and memory (DDR5 SODIMMs) are both accessible and upgradeable.
Can I play non steam games with the Steam Controller?
The controller can work with any game compatible with the Steam Overlay.
