Valve, the company that successfully manufactured the Steam Deck console, just announced its re-entry into the home console space with the next-generation Steam Machine being developed around the SteamOS platform. This announcement represents a major and somewhat unexpected departure from the company that figured it could not repeat its initial, mass-unappealing attempt at convincing customers with the launch of its original brand in 2015. While the original Steam Machines were effectively stopped by 2018, the intervening years have changed the hardware landscape quite substantially, thanks mostly to the commercial glory of Valve’s own portable PC device. More than an update, the new machine is being made as a powerful dedicated system aimed squarely at high-fidelity console gaming.
Some provided specs suggest that there is an earth-shattering power transition from the Steam Deck’s portable capabilities. Valve is promoting the new Steam Machine to be more than six times more powerful than its handheld counterpart. The semi-custom AMD architecture comprises a Zen4 CPU plus an RDNA3 GPU with 28 CUs, which are meant to support 4K gaming at 60 fps along with ray tracing. The system would rely on AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology for the upscaling, while no mention was made of other rival technologies like NVIDIA’s DLSS in this first announcement. In addition, the other configurations of this hardware are designed to support 16GB DDR5 plus 8GB GDDR6 VRAM.
The tentative window for release has been earmarked by Valve for early 2026 for this new hardware. A choice of two primary hardware configurations will be offered to consumers, being either a 512 GB SSD version or a higher-end 2 TB SSD version, both equipped with a micro SD card slot for extending game catalogs and storage for portability. Pricing has not yet been disclosed; however, with its differing performance levels, something akin to the initial pricing strategy will likely happen: one option will be sold as a standalone unit, and the other will come as a bundle with the re-engineered Steam Controller.
During the past ten years, both the certified PC gaming ecosystem and Valve’s own hardware expertise have changed dramatically. Now, the mainstream appeal of PC gaming is substantially higher than it ever was back in the mid-2010s, and refinements made to SteamOS address major criticisms from the original line of Steam Machines. This new console could be set for an entirely different destiny, with Valve’s proven track record of shipping successful hardware and a console market that is increasingly receptive to hybrid and PC-derived ecosystems.
