YouTuber Linus Tech Tips revealed that Valve had a strange reaction when he suggested the Steam Machine price should be around $500. According to the tech reviewer, the publisher fell silent when he brought up the device having “console pricing.”
Valve Reportedly Had Strange Reaction to Steam Machine Price Being $500
Another day, another debate surrounding the Steam Machine price. Ever since Valve revealed the new console, there has been confusion over what the thing will cost. Tech reviewer Linus Tech Tips set off a firestorm earlier this week when he said that Valve told him the Steam Machine would be priced like a “PC” and not a console. This, of course, led many to believe it would be expensive. Especially since Valve also confirmed they would not be subsidizing the cost of production.
However, hardware insider Moore’sLawIsDead disagreed with this. In a breakdown video he explained that Steam Machine could be sold for $499 given the cost of its parts. Following this, Linus Tech Tips then revealed that Valve had a strange reaction when he brought up a $500 price. The YouTuber made the revelation in a November 18 podcast. In the clip, he described the energy in the room shifting when he mentioned the Steam Machine being priced similar to a PS5 (which retails at $499).
“I said to Valve I’m disappointed the Steam Machine isn’t going to follow a console pricing model. Because I feel that would be a more meaningful product. Valve then asked me ‘Well what do you mean by console pricing’. And I said $500. Nobody said anything. But the energy in the room wasn’t great.” So could this mean that the Steam Machine will be priced higher than $600?
What Has Valve Actually Said About the Steam Machine Price?
Okay, so with all this back and forth, you might be wondering what exactly has Valve said about the Steam Machine price? Well, pretty much nothing — which is a big driving force behind all of this speculation and these rumors. What Valve has said is that they can’t give a price right now, due to “continously changing economic situations.” Many have interpreted that to mean tariffs.
So essentially, we won’t know the Steam Machine price until sometime in 2026, right before the system launches. Interestingly, this is the exact same thing the Xbox ROG Ally X did. Despite being announced months in advance, Asus wouldn’t actually reveal the pricing until weeks before the handheld was sold in stores. Like Valve, they also cited economic reasons for a delayed price announcement.
Would the Steam Machine Be DOA If It’s $600 or More?
When we first reported that the Steam Machine was rumored to be expensive, many players had a negative reaction. Linus Tech Tips also believes this would be a mistake for Valve. In the same video, he exclaimed, “Even if the Steam Machine is like at $600 or $700, it isn’t going to have any justification for it.”
With Moore’sLawIsDead recently revealing that the valve console costs around $428 to manufacture, a $700 price point would be a pretty hard pill to swallow. The other major issue is that the Steam Machine’s specs have revealed that it’s about as powerful as a base PS5, which sells for $500.
So if what Linus Tech Tips is saying is true, Valve would be charging more than a PS5 for access to the Steam Store and the ability to use it as a PC. To be fair, those are valuable features. But if the console is essentially a more-improved Xbox Series S, then some may find its “PC”-level pricing too much of a hurdle to jump over.
It should be pointed out that Linus Tech Tips has specifically stated he doesn’t know the pricing of the device. And his latest comments on Steam Machine’s price, was based on a “feeling” he got when bringing it up to Valve. So at this point we are still in speculation territory. Still, his interaction with Valve is interesting to say the least.
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