Valve confirm the Steam Machine will be priced like a PC with similar specs, rather than a console
Right, time for some box news. The Steam Machine. Valve have confirmed, or reaffirmed, that its yet-to-be-revealed price will be in line with a regular PC built to similar specs, rather than subsidised in order to try and compete with consoles.
Speaking on Skill Up’s Friends Per Second podcast, Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais said the device’s price still hasn’t been settled on internally due to some factors which are “fluctuating”, but said the aim’s to offer a “good deal” compared to a the sorts of existing PCs which offer comparable bang for your buck.
He went on to confirm that the price won’t be subsidised by Valve in an effort to keep it on the lower end and compete with consoles, an idea that’s been floated around on the lines since the box’s reveal. To be honest, as someone who can’t currently see where the Steam Machine would fit into my existing setup of a decently beefy desktop and a PS5, that’d be something in its favour, but I’m also conscious that I may well just not be the target audience for the thing. Then again, I’m also yet to invest in a Steam Deck despite regularly being told I likely won’t regret it, so maybe I just don’t like spending money.
“It’s more in line with what you might expect from the current PC market,” Griffais said of the Machine. “Obviously, our goal is for it to be a good deal at that level of performance. And then you have features that are actually really hard to build if you’re making your own gaming PC from parts.” Those features are the likes of its small size, quietness, and ability to be easily flicked on via TV remote or controller.
Basically, a level of ease or convenience which he reckons is “not really something that exists in the PC market right now”. That sounds very much like an ‘appeal to newbies considering making the switch’ pitch to me, but could also have some catchet with folks who’re just keen not to muck around with a/their big PC for everything but the most hairdryer-inducing behemoths (hi, Red Dead Redemption 2).
For now, we’ll just have to see what number Valve finally settle on and judge things from that. Until that point, there are far more important conversations to be had, as James dipped his toe into last week when he tried to define whether the Steam Machine has soul. Can PC hardware be Aretha Frankliny? Probably, I guess.