this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2025
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If building a PC does in fact get too expensive for individuals, I wonder what that will do for the sale of the Steam Machine which should (theoretically) get people into PC gaming for much cheaper. Maybe all-in-one pre-built PC's like the steam machine become the norm...idk
I wouldn't mind if this led to devs stopping the constant push for heavier graphics in games and instead moved to making sure they run well with how upgrading is looking to be less and less feasible for more people.
I think economics would basically push things that way. If most people cannot or will not buy the latest hardware, the investment of 600 million dollars or more into a AAAA game that hardly anyone can run won't happen.
I also think this would be positive honestly
Why is the steam machine not going to be subject to the same costs? Why then would we believe that valve will just eat that?
Your intuition is correct that the steam machine will go up in price but I think It'll still have an edge over building your own PC for a couple of reasons:
Valve has economies of scale and can make contracts directly with Dram manufacturers/distributers
The Steam Machine is just already cheaper to make than a pre-built because it has a custom APU (rather than a standalone graphics card). Not to mention running Linux means not having to pay for a windows licence
The Steam Machine only has 16 GB of RAM. Most everyone I know building gaming PCs with DDR5 are using 32 GB
The steam machine is not a cutting edge device, but its lower end capabilities may become normalised if building a new PC becomes cost prohibitive. It may force the whole gaming industry to take a step back for a few years. And I mean, the steam Machine can play Cyberpunk 2077 at 4k 60 fps with FSR upscaling so its got enough performance for lots of consumers
The assumption is that Valve made their procurement deals before the sudden price hikes, in which case the costs might actually be sane until the deal runs out and they need to renegotiate prices.
Same as consoles. Sell at a loss to increase game sales and earn more on the backend.
Consoles are completely locked down so there is only one store you can buy from. Consoles are a safer bet that lost hardware sales would lead to making it up on games.
But, Steam Machine is a PC. Not only can you install games from outside the Steam store. You are able to completely replace the OS. You can have a completely Steamless experience on it.
Its not happening. Selling a PC just isn't the same as selling a console that can basically "just" play games.
Steam already rakes in cash due to being in a dominant market position on pc. Selling at a loss doesn't get them much.
Valve said they won't subsidise the cost of the Steam Machine, it will be roughly the same price as a regular PC.
I think that quote says it would be cost competitive with equivalent PC parts, which is cheaper than buying a prebuilt computer, fwiw. (And you'll get a compact GabeCube instead of a big tower).
I expect GabeCubes might be my kiddos first desktops. CachyOS should run like a dream on 'em, so they'll work great as both computers and entry-level gaming rigs.
It's an interesting scenario.
I'd posit that the possibility mostly depends on the aquisition of RAM by Valve before the memory market implosion.
If Valve is able to successfully sell Steam Machines then other SIs and manufacturers might revisit the gaming market.
Based on Micron's action of exiting the consumer market (by killing off their Crucial division) I'd imagine that most manufaturers are considering doing the same as the demand from AI hyperscalers has become obnoxiously enticing for most corporate entities.