Steam Machine: A Console Look Without the Console Price Tag
▼ Summary
– Valve has ruled out using a loss leader pricing model for its Steam Machine, opting instead for pricing in line with the current PC market.
– The Steam Machine’s AMD Zen 4 CPU and RDNA3 GPU are designed to outperform the bottom 70% of PCs in Valve’s hardware survey.
– The price of the Steam Machine will be comparable to building a desktop PC with similar performance specifications.
– Valve representatives indicated that a heavily subsidized $500 price point was not well-received during discussions.
– Estimates suggest the Steam Machine could cost over $700, making it competitive with the PS5 Pro despite components potentially costing $400-$500.
When considering the cost of a new gaming system, many players hope for an affordable console-like price, but Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine appears set to follow a different path. Recent statements from Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais clarify that the device won’t be sold as a loss leader, a strategy often used by console makers to attract buyers with low upfront hardware costs. Instead, the Steam Machine will be priced comparably to a desktop PC with equivalent performance, placing it firmly within the expectations of the current PC market.
Griffais explained that the hardware, powered by an AMD Zen 4 CPU and RDNA3 GPU, was specifically engineered to outperform the lower 70 percent of PCs participating in Valve’s hardware surveys. He emphasized that customers should anticipate paying about what they would for a desktop built from individual components offering similar capabilities. “If you build a PC from parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that’s the general price window that we aim to be at,” he noted during an interview with the YouTube channel Skill Up.
These remarks align with earlier observations shared by Linus Sebastian on his WAN Show podcast. Sebastian recalled proposing a subsidized price during a preview event, suggesting that a figure around $500 could make the Steam Machine a more compelling product. However, he noted that the idea was met with a noticeably cool reception from Valve representatives, signaling that such aggressive pricing was not in the cards.
So what does this mean for the final cost? If we estimate based on comparable desktop components, such as a Ryzen 5 7600X processor and a Radeon RX 7600 graphics card, the total build would likely exceed $700. While some internal component estimates for the Steam Machine fall between $400 and $500, the final retail price is expected to be significantly higher, placing it in direct competition with premium consoles like the PS5 Pro.
(Source: Ars Technica)
