Valve postpones Steam Machine due to RAM shortage; control arrives in May
Valve confirmed the launch of Steam Controller for May 4, 2026, but keeps the arrival date of Steam Machine and Steam Frame on hold. In an interview with the Polygon portal, Steve Cardinali, the company’s hardware engineer, revealed that the lack of RAM continues to be the main obstacle to bringing the compact computer to the market. “This doesn’t have RAM inside,” said the expert, highlighting how the chip crisis directly impacts the ecosystem’s expansion plans.
The shortage is a direct reflection of the high demand from the artificial intelligence sector, which has invested heavily in data centers and consumed a large volume of memory available globally. Enquanto that, the control managed to overcome the pressure on supply and is ready to reach consumers in more than 20 countries — unfortunately, the Brasil is not on the initial list.
Controle comes out first, machine remains frozen
The Steam Controller will hit the market at US$99 (€99 at Europa), a higher price than the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S controls. Cardinali explained that Valve decided not to wait for the Steam Machine and Steam Frame to launch the gamepad, thus breaking the expectation of a simultaneous launch of the three products.
“We’re ready for this. Queríamos will increase quantity to try to satisfy everyone who wants one at launch, but it’s possible that demand for it will far exceed our expectations,” said the engineer. The company manufactured what it called a “significant number” of units and says it has the production capacity to meet new orders if necessary.
Why don’t they release it together?
Desde the beginning of the project, according to Cardinali, Steam Controller, Steam Machine and Steam Frame were always conceived as distinct products, not as a single package. The idea was for them to work well integrated, but without the need for date synchronization. “From the beginning, these were all different products,” he reinforced. The only hard commitment was of a reverse nature: not to put Steam Machine on the market before control.
“We want to have this [Steam Controller] available for Steam Machine. Realmente was never the plan to ship them together unless things coincided well that way. Portanto, there’s no point in holding it back while we figure out other things,” the engineer concluded.
Pressão in costs increases the final value
The price of Steam Controller was also indirectly impacted by the supply crisis. On the The Verge portal, Valve revealed that the final value was above the original estimate, although not exclusively because of the RAM. “With transport by sea or air, fuel is more expensive than last year”, explained the company. Global logistics spending remains high, reflecting post-pandemic pressures on the supply chain.
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The gamepad incorporates TMR technology (proprietary Valve technology), an improvement over the Hall Effect used by competitors. Esse technical difference also partially justifies the higher cost of the peripheral compared to its counterparts on the market.
Hardware from Valve continues in intense development
Pierre-Loup Griffais, developer of Valve, was less specific when addressing the future of Steam Machine and Steam Frame. “We currently don’t have any updates on this, but we are working hard on it and hope to have news soon,” he said. The company did not provide time windows or projections for when products might come out of the oven.
The string of delays reflects a pattern across the industry: Manufacturers face structural difficulties delivering mass consumer products while the data and artificial intelligence sectors absorb increasing proportions of available components. Para to Valve, the decision to bring forward the release of the control appears to be a strategy to capture revenue while working out the bottlenecks that block the compact computer’s output.
Cronograma of confirmed releases
- Steam Controller: May 4, 2026 — $99 (US) / €99 (Europa)
- Steam Machine: date postponed — no official forecast
- Steam Frame: date postponed — no official forecast
- Mercados control initials: more than 20 countries (Brasil unconfirmed)
- Gamepad Tecnologia: TMR (Hall Effect’s rival)
Valve remains optimistic about future production capacity, but recognizes that demand for Steam Controller may surprise in volume. The company asked fans for patience as it navigates the component crisis that has turned 2024 and 2025 into years of uncertainty for the entire hardware industry.
