Two weeks ago, Valve announced its latest gaming product line, including the Steam Machine “console,” the updated Steam Controller, and the Steam Frame virtual reality controller. A few details have been revealed about the console, but one thing that has remained a mystery so far is its pricing.
Recently, several Valve representatives were interviewed by Skill Up, and in the video interview, Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of the individuals at Valve responsible for the development of the Steam Deck and Steam Machine, was asked about the Steam Machine’s pricing.
No specific answer was given, but he did say that the Steam Machine will be priced like a desktop computer, not a video game console. “You can imagine that if you buy computer components to build a gaming computer, that’s the price tag we expect the Steam Machine to be.”
To clarify, game consoles sold by companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo typically come with a price tag that is subsidized by the company. Because of this, you can see why the price tag of game software on consoles such as the Sony PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 will typically maintain a fairly expensive price tag throughout.
This concept is known as a “loss leader” where these consoles are sold at cost or a loss, but the sales of game titles will bring a greater profit to the company.
Valve does not seem to be providing any sales price subsidies for the Steam Machine, but instead games on the Steam platform will be sold at cheaper prices throughout, and it is seen that the Steam Machine already comes with a fairly large selection of games through their computer game store software.
In the meantime, it should also be noted that the price tag of memory and storage components is now increasing, and is expected to affect the future sales price of the Steam Machine.
