- Valve has announced that Steam Machine will launch in summer
- Pricing has not yet been announced, but analysts suggest it could start at $1,200.
- The Steam Machine recently passed Vulkan compliance testing, suggesting it is closer to launch than ever.
The RAM crisis has kept Valve’s hands tied, preventing it from launching the Steam Machine for months; instead, it has been stuck in planning its release date and price. Fortunately, there was a major update upon arrival, but one key factor is missing.
Valve announced that Steam Machine will launch alongside Steam Frame this summer, according to its latest Steamworks Development post. However, the Steam Machine’s price and exact release date have yet to be announced, as a result of the current RAM crisis.
It’s worth noting that the Steam Machine has passed a Vulkan 1.4 compliance test, as reported by Game Rant, which largely implies that it is in the final stages of development (and at this stage, ready for release), as these tests are done to ensure that the hardware meets particular graphics compatibility standards.
While it seems like everything is set on the hardware side for launch, Valve clearly isn’t ready to commit to a price yet, or at least, isn’t banking on an announcement, and to make matters worse, analysts are already indicating that the console-like PC won’t launch at an affordable price.
Speaking to Eurogamer amid recent Steam Deck price increases, analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted the difficulty of giving a definitive answer on the Steam Machine price, but has a prediction based on current market conditions.
“My confidence in this estimate is not high. If I’m forced, I’d say I’m assuming a launch price of $1,200 for the base version of the Steam Machine right now,” Piscatella said.
“This market is not behaving normally, which means that there are several external forces impacting it that do not allow for high-confidence forecasts,” pointing to the significant problems caused by memory shortages and external economic problems.
“I don’t think the potential price increases affecting gaming hardware will stop at Valve, of course. We could see other price increases on both PC and console products, depending on what happens in the macro environment.”
Both Valve’s public business records and changes to Steam’s backend have given strong indications that the company has been actively working to prepare the Steam Machine for a long time, and it’s the same trend of activity seen before the launch of the Steam Controller.
The problem is that the longer time passes without a price being announced, the less confidence will be instilled in consumers that the Steam Machine will be priced in an affordable region.
It’s hard to predict exactly when Valve will finally announce a fixed release date or price, especially given the impact the RAM crisis has had (potentially even forcing last-minute changes), but at least it’s now scheduled to arrive sometime in the summer.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds.
