The Original Price of the Steam Machine Was Much Lower Than What Valve Announced

The Steam Machine was presented several months ago. However, Valve only announced the prices this week, with the new product set to hit the market at prices starting from $1,049 for the 512 GB storage version.

The price list for the Steam Machine is raising eyebrows among many users and risks significantly limiting its spread in the near future. Everything revolves around the memory crisis that has caused a rapid increase in component prices. Originally, in fact, Valve's plans were quite different.

Was the original price much lower? IGN had the opportunity to speak with Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat, engineers at Valve who worked on the development project of the Steam Machine (completed before the outbreak of the memory crisis).

The two engineers did not provide precise indications regarding the target price of the Steam Machine before the crisis erupted but confirmed that the increase recorded in the project is similar to that of the Steam Deck, which is dealing with a list price that is 35% higher.

With a calculator in hand, it is possible to estimate what Valve's plans were. The original price of the Steam Machine was likely $749, which then became $1,049 (a 33% increase) due to the ongoing crisis. In any case, Valve had not yet defined a price for its project at the time of the presentation. The outbreak of the crisis prompted the company to delay the launch and then set a significantly higher price list.