- AMD CEO mentioned Steam Machine on earnings call
- Lisa Su said: “Valve is on track to start shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year.”
- This underlines what Valve has promised in the past in terms of an early 2026 arrival, with the device expected to debut in the first quarter.
AMD CEO Lisa Su told us that Valve is on track to launch its Steam Machine in early 2026.
As noted by Notebookcheck.net, in X Wario64 pointed out what the CEO had said during AMD’s earnings call (following its fiscal Q4 report), as reported by Gamesbeat.
Su noted that: “From a product standpoint, Valve is on track to start shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year.”
He also mentioned that the next-gen Xbox is also scheduled for release in 2027, with an AMD chip as the internal engine.
If you remember, Valve promised that its compact living room gaming PC would debut in early 2026, so Su stresses that this is still the case for the Steam Machine.
Analysis: So it’s March?
So apparently Valve is still planning to release the Steam Machine early this year, which could mean it will arrive later this month, possibly, or in March. To me, the use of the word “early” indicates the first quarter of 2026, because once we move into the second quarter, it is technically no longer the beginning of the year, although I suppose you could argue that April is relatively early in the year in a pinch.
What makes me a little hesitant to accept the idea of an imminent arrival of the Steam Machine is the fact that we’ve heard little about it since the new year arrived – the rumors have died down quite a bit. Still, there’s not much else to know about the device, to be fair, except for the all-important price.
Speaking of which, one might also believe that the RAM crisis that is in full swing now might give Valve pause for thought, as this will clearly make selling said launch price a more complicated business.
The value proposition is crucial here, of course, but what exactly can Valve do about the RAM situation? Nothing really (beyond what has already been done previously in terms of ensuring volume purchases), not that waiting for the RAM crisis to subside is a realistic option. In any case, prices are expected to increase throughout this quarter, and the situation around supply shortages and rising prices, with system memory, may not change until next year, or even until 2028, according to some claims.
It’s also interesting that Su uses the term “shipping” in his quote, as the Steam Machine will actually reach players within this time frame, meaning that an announcement, and pre-orders going live before shipping begins, could actually happen very soon. (Keep in mind that the Steam Deck handheld was pre-ordered quite a while before it shipped.)
Obviously, this is all just my guesses, but the fact that Lisa Su specifically mentioned that the launch is still ongoing is definitely a good sign that we could see the Steam Machine launch in the first quarter, probably next month. This will be a closely watched product, that’s for sure, and it could be a pivotal moment in boosting Valve’s ambitions with PC gaming (and Linux to boot).
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