Steam Machine price may be much higher than PS5, after Valve reportedly balks at $500 suggestion

One of the central questions about the Steam Machine is its unannounced price. The cost will determine whether the system can tempt prospective PS5 buyers. During a WAN Show podcast, Linus Tech Tips may have given buyers a hint. When talking with Valve, he reveals a less-than-enthusiastic response to a proposed $500 MSRP.

During the broadcast, Linus Tech Tips expressed concern that the cube wouldn’t “follow a console pricing model”. With Xbox and PlayStation offerings, the manufacturers could subsidize some of the hardware costs. Game sales are more lucrative for the companies. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case with Valve’s new gaming system.

The YouTuber suggested that a Steam Machine price of $500 would make it a legitimate console contender. While the company wouldn’t provide specifics, its response to that proposal wasn’t encouraging. According to the content creator who saw Valve’s latest gear in person: “Nobody said anything, but the energy in the room wasn’t great”.

After the most recent PS5 price increase in the U.S., the digital model demands $499.99, while the disc version is $549.99. Analysts expect the Steam Machine specs to deliver comparable performance to Sony’s console. However, if it’s priced closer to the more powerful $749.99 PS5 Pro, buyers may not recognize enough value.

What advantages does the Steam Machine have over consoles?

The WAN Show then considered what the Steam Machine offers that console competitors lack. Its SteamOS software is more open-ended, allowing owners to install third-party apps and even Windows. Still, as with most gaming PCs, streaming movies from services like Netflix may not be a seamless experience. Linus Tech Tips also pointed out that Valve won’t be embracing physical media by including a disc drive.

Estimates for the Steam Machine price range anywhere from $400 to over $1000 for the 512GB model. Valve seems intent on pricing it like an entry-level gaming PC. Even so, there are questions about whether the device can consistently produce 4K/60fps visuals with a GPU constrained by 8GB of VRAM. If FSR 3 or potentially FSR 4 upscaling is effective, it will be a more alluring alternative to the PS5 or a prebuilt PC.