Price of Steam Machines could have been 30% lower before the memory crisis, says Valve engineer

A Valve engineer has released details about the cost of Steam Machines before the global DRAM memory crisis. Pierre-Loup Griffais, from the development team, clarified that the devices would not be a low-value product, even in a more favorable economic scenario. He pointed out that the expected price variation would be comparable to the 30% increase applied to the Steam Deck, suggesting an initial value that could have been between US$730 and US$750 for the machines.

With this estimate, the cost of Steam Machines would be at a similar level to the Sony PlayStation 5 and below the PS5 Pro, which currently reaches US$899.99 after recent adjustments by Sony. The hybrid nature of the device, functioning both as a console and as a conventional computer, would justify a higher price compared to subsidized consoles. The main reason for the less competitive price lies in the freedom of its ecosystem: the possibility of installing Windows and operating outside the Valve platform eliminated the main incentive for the company to subsidize the hardware, a common practice in traditional consoles to compensate with the sale of games and services.