A new leak claims that the Steam Machine price is reportedly higher than the recent Steam Deck price increase. If true, that means the Valve console could cost thousands of dollars at launch.
Steam Machine Price Fears Grow After Steam Deck Price Hike
After months of being sold out, the Steam Deck is finally back in stock, but with a major price increase. Originally launching at $649, the Steam Deck OLED is now being sold for $949. For those doing the quick math, that is a staggering 46% increase. The price hike is even more egregious when you consider the handheld still has specs from 2022. It’s also only $50 less than the much more powerful Xbox Rog Ally X.
After the Steam Deck pricing increase was discovered, players understandably began to panic over the Steam Machine price. While Valve has not confirmed what the new console will cost, many took the Steam Deck’s new price as a sign of things to come. On social media sites such as Reddit and X, users began predicting that the Steam Machine would easily be priced over $1,000, given that it has better specs than Valve’s handheld.
“Steam Machine prices are going to be cooked,” a user on Reddit wrote, for example. Another commenter reacted: “The Steam Machine is going to cost thousands of dollars, isn’t it? This is going to be dead on arrival.” On X, sentiment around Valve’s hardware didn’t fare much better. One user vented, “That Steam Machine price is going to be horrid, oh my god.”
However, this panic might be warranted after a new leak claims that the Steam Machine price might actually be worse than the recent Steam Deck price hike that took many users by surprise.
Steam Machine Price Leak Claims It Could Cost More Than Steam Deck
Valve insider Brad Lynch recently revealed that he had been told a potential Steam Machine price months ago, and it was higher than the Steam Deck’s recent price hike. “Back when I was told a figure for Valve’s estimated price they’d have to set the starting price of Steam Machine. It was still higher than today’s Steam Deck prices. And that was 2 months ago.”
Although it should be pointed out that Lynch cautioned followers to take his tweet with a “grain of salt.” It appears the figures he was told were more rumored than set in stone. But given that the Steam Deck has worse specs than the Steam Machine, it seems pretty plausible that Valve’s new home console will at least be $1,000 at a minimum.
Adding fuel to the fire is Valve’s reasoning for increasing the Steam Deck price by 46%. The company released a statement explaining the price hike. “These new prices reflect the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges across the industry as a whole.”
Well, if the Steam Deck now costs this much to produce, then why would the Steam Machine be any cheaper? Yikes. While this is speculation at this point, players should prepare to spend a lot of money if they want to buy the Steam Machine at launch. If the Steam Deck price hike is any indicator, it’s not going to be cheap.
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