Valve Delays Steam Machine and Steam Frame Due to Memory and Storage Shortages

Valve has delayed the release of its new Steam Machine and Steam Frame headset, which it previously expected to launch in early 2026. The company cited memory and storage shortages for the delay, though it still plans to launch the new devices alongside its new Steam Controller in the first half of 2026.

“When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now. But the memory and storage shortages you’ve likely heard about across the industry have rapidly increased since then,” the company explained today.

“The limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing (especially around Steam Machine and Steam Frame). Our goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year has not changed. But we have work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates that we can confidently announce, being mindful of how quickly the circumstances around both of those things can change,” the blog post continued.

The Steam Machine is an approximately 6-inch cube featuring an AMD Zen 4 CPU, a semi-custom AMD RDNA3 GPU with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and either 512GB or 2TB of SSD storage. It will be running SteamOS, just like the Steam Deck handheld and the upcoming Steam Frave VR headset, which will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.

In an FAQ, Valve shared more details about the performance target for the Steam machine. “In our testing the majority of Steam titles play great at 4K 60FPS with FSR on Steam Machine. That said, there are some titles that currently require more upscaling than others, and it may be preferable to play at a lower framerate with VRR to maintain a 1080p internal resolution,” the company said.

After we saw Microsoft raise the price of its Xbox Series X|S consoles twice in the US last year, we should probably expect Valve’s Steam machine to cost more than current-gen consoles. Gaming is getting more expensive, and RAM price increases are likely going to affect PC, smartphones, and other devices as well.