What the concern is about
When Valve first teased Steam Machine back in late 2025, most estimates and community expectations put it well under €1,000 — some hoped for closer to €600–700. The actual pricing, confirmed in June 2026, starts at €1,039 and climbs to €1,428 for the top configuration. That gap between expectation and reality is the whole story behind the backlash.
Where the price actually comes from
It's not an arbitrary markup. Global DRAM and NAND flash prices spiked sharply in early 2026, driven partly by demand from AI infrastructure eating into the same memory supply chains that consumer electronics rely on. Valve has said publicly that component costs, not margin, drove the final numbers. Every device using significant RAM or SSD storage got more expensive around the same period — Steam Machine just happened to launch right in the middle of it.
The console comparison people keep making
The most common comparison is to PS5 and PS5 Pro. Sony sells the base PS5 well under €500 and subsidizes the hardware, expecting to make margin back on games and PlayStation Plus subscriptions over the console's life. Valve doesn't have that same subsidy model for Steam Machine — it's priced closer to what the components actually cost, similar to a small-form-factor PC. That's a structurally different business, but it's an easy comparison for people scrolling past a price tag.
Is the concern justified?
That depends on what you're buying it for. As a straight console replacement, it's a hard sell against a PS5 at less than half the price. As an open PC platform that plays your existing Steam library, runs other software, and isn't locked to one storefront, the calculus changes — you're paying PC prices for what is, functionally, PC hardware. The concern is real; whether it's a dealbreaker depends on what you actually want out of the box.
See current pricing
Full configuration-by-configuration pricing is on our Steam Machine page.