Steam Controller Purchase and Steam Machine Release

Seven months after the announcement of the new Steam hardware and barely still within the "early 2026" estimate, the Steam Machine has officially released and I got my hands on a Steam Controller.

This was originally going to be a review of the Steam Controller as well, but I decided it would be better saved for a later post. I didn't want to rush through a review with a week or less using the controller, and there was enough content already before I even started on the controller itself. That's something you can look forward to later.

When Valve announced the controller, I was excited about it. When they revealed the price, I had my concerns. The most expensive controller I've ever had (not counting absurdly overpriced Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons) was the WaveBird Wireless GCN controller at $80. Paying $99 for a single PC controller felt particularly steep when I only paid $50 for the excellent 8Bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth controller. Plus, I could use it for both PC AND Nintendo Switch. Did the Steam Controller really warrant double the price?

Sales for the Steam Controller opened on May 4 and it immediately sold out. And, because I am occasionally susceptible to FOMO, this made me want it more. Valve provided an official update on May 7, implementing a reservation system effective May 8. Since I could join the reservation waitlist for no payment or commitment, I figured I may as well. When my reservation became available, I would have 72 hours to finalize the purchase or the reservation would expire with no penalty.

One quirk to the reservation system that I am particularly pleased with is the single unit limit per account. Where scalpers were buying up potentially multiple controllers and unloading them, Valve is now only allowing one controller purchase per account, presumably until supply stabilizes. Furthermore, the account must have made a purchase before the reservation, so scalpers can't just create new accounts and bypass the limitation that way. I think it is extremely fair, and I'm glad to see that Valve implemented a similar system for the Steam Machine at launch (more on that later).

While I waited for my reservation on the Steam Controller, I deliberated on whether I would want one enough to buy it. I already had two working Dualshock 4 controllers, so that was frequently enough to play most games. If Valve released the Steam Machine as a bundle with a controller, would it be cheap enough to justify waiting? And what happens when Valve inevitably releases a translucent smoke gray limited edition Steam Controller that I HAVE to buy?

Eventually, I decided that I would buy the controller when I got the opportunity. There have been a handful of times when we didn't have enough PC controllers for everyone to play, and we had to employ a USB Nintendo Switch controller to varying degrees of success. If a controller dies, we would have a backup. If - no, WHEN - Valve releases a limited edition version, I'll just buy another and either retire the original or let the kids use it. And if the Steam Machine bundle was really that much cheaper, oh well, I wouldn't be buying a Steam Machine for quite some time if the rumors on price were to be true.

In the early morning hours of June 19, I got the email that I was eligible to purchase the Steam Controller for the next 72 hours. I had over $300 in my Steam Wallet from the blood money I had accumulated, so I pulled the trigger. I knew I would eventually want one when the Steam Machine came out, and getting a few months of use could tell me if I liked it enough to justify buying a second as part of a bundle with the Steam Machine. Lo and behold, just a few days later...

Valve officially released the Steam Machine on June 22. Learning from the chaotic release of the Steam Controller and the absurd demand that they did not anticipate, Valve opened with a reservation system. Potential buyers would have until June 25 to join the reservation waitlist for any or all of the 4 configurations of Steam Machine available. Once the initial reservation window closed, Valve would then randomly select from the list to offer the opportunity to buy the Steam Machine. Users that wanted to enter a reservation after the first set closed would be chronologically added to the waitlist and given the opportunity to purchase in the order they created their reservation.

The greatest unknown about the Steam Machine was the price. Estimates varied from $500 up to $2000. Unfortunately, a large part of why the Steam Machine released so much later than the Steam Controller was due to the RAM shortage. Because data center construction has driven up the price of RAM to astronomical levels, Valve didn't know exactly where to price the Steam Machine and still have it be both profitable and competitive. I don't fault them for it, but I do feel like a Linux PC with performance comparable to a base model PlayStation 5 is way more expensive than what most people are comfortable paying.

There are 4 individual SKU options for the Steam Machine based on SSD size and controller add-on. The base 512GB model with no controller is $1,049. The higher 2TB option is $1,349. Adding a controller is $80, for bundles priced at $1,128 and $1,428 respectively. That's about $20 off the sticker price of the Steam Controller by itself; a fair discount to bundle the controller and computer together, but not enough to make me regret buying the controller by itself. I would gladly pay the $20 extra to get the controller early, and if I like it enough, I'll buy a bundle to get a second controller later.

The price point where the Steam Machine ended up is pretty unfortunate, but it makes sense. Data centers have been gobbling up all the RAM, which has driven up prices astronomically. I understand Valve's determination not to subsidize the device, since their hardware arm does need to be profitable and at the end of the day, it's just a Linux machine. If Valve sold at a loss, people could buy a Steam Machine for work computers, home computers, or anything else you can do with the hardware. Nobody buying a Steam Machine is guaranteed to use it for gaming, and even if they are, they aren't necessarily going to use Steam as the storefront.

The other problem with the price of the Steam Machine is that performance is roughly on par with the base model PS5 at nearly double the price. Inevitably, the PS6 will outperform it by a significant margin and may not cost as much. There has been some debate around the target demographic, and while it is niche, I can understand the appeal. Games on PC are usually much cheaper, they're backwards compatible basically infinitely, and you can use a PC for things like emulators and non-game applications. If you already have a large Steam library, a Steam Machine allows you to pay a premium for hardware that provides access to your games longer term than what Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft would allow in most cases.

After the Steam Deck OLED price hike, new stock still sold out immediately. This tells me that people are GOING to buy the Steam Machine, even at the uncomfortable initial price. I applied for both 512GB and 2TB reservation. I definitely won't buy one for myself, but I'm almost tempted to translate that reservation to a device I can resell on eBay and turn a decent profit. I wouldn't be buying one to keep until they're significantly cheaper, and by then, there probably won't be a limitation of one device per household.

Hopefully, after RAM prices cool off a bit, Valve will reduce the new price of the Steam Machine. Additionally, Steam sells in the past have provided discounts on the Steam Deck and I expect that might also apply to the Steam Machine in time. Beyond that, refurb models are basically inevitable. I fully expect that many people will buy the Steam Machine at launch, be unhappy with it, then return or resell it to Valve (not fully sure how that process works). When they do, those units will get refurbished and sold at a discount.

How much will the refurb Steam Machines go for? I used the Steam Deck to crunch some numbers for comparison. After the OLED price hike, new Steam Decks cost $789 for the 512GB model and $949 for the 1TB model. Refurb Steam Deck OLEDs go for $629 and $759 respectively. That is a discount of $160 or $190, roughly 20% off new. If Valve uses the same refurb discount for the Steam Machine and does not reduce the new price, that works out to roughly $840 and $1080 for the Steam Machine.

It's still expensive, but much more reasonable in my opinion. If this is my "console" for the current generation, under a grand is much more accessible. I really do hope that the Steam Machine is a rousing success, but we need to be realistic about the value that it carries, and the harm that data centers are doing to the PC hardware market and the environment.

My Steam Controller got delivered on Friday, June 26 and I immediately started using it. I'm very happy with the direction that Steam Hardware is going, and I'm optimistic that prices will come down to reasonable levels soon.

References:
Gonzalez, E. (2026, June 29). Major Ram Manufacturers sued for manipulating prices and demand. Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/ram-manufacturers-sued-supply-price-fixing/

Peters, J. (2026, June 22). Valve explains why it isn’t subsidizing the Steam Machine | The Verge. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/games/952004/valve-steam-machine-price-not-subsidizing