Valve has promised that its long-awaited Stream Machine PC gaming system and Steam Frame headset are on track to launch this summer, despite a myriad of delays up until this point.
While we still don’t have release dates or, more pertinently, pricing for these models, Valve is preparing the documentation for game developers to get their games verified and optimised to run smoothly on the new additions to the hardware line-up.
In a blog post published on June 4, Valve writes: “Today we are expanding the Verified program to include Steam Machine and Steam Frame, both of which are shipping this summer. “As with Steam Deck Verified, the goal is to help customers understand the out-of-box experience for a given title on these new devices, and how smoothly a game will run with no user work or configuration required.”
This suggests that the company is now in the final stages of preparing for the new hardware to go on sale within the next 2-3 months. While this might be good news for PC gamers keen on doubling down on Valve’s ecosystem, there’s probably a good reason the maker isn’t prepared to commit to pricing yet. Just last month the company drastically increased the price of its Steam Deck OLED handheld console due to the increasing costs of RAM.
The gaming giant revealed insane new prices, which apply to both the 512GB and 1TB models. The lower storage model is up from $549/£479 to $789/£649. That’s an increase of $240/£170. The 1TB model is up from $649/£569 to $949/£779. That’s an increase of $300/£210.
At the time Valve said: “Steam Deck itself hasn’t changed; these new prices reflect the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges across the industry as a whole. We’ll keep you updated if anything changes,” the company says.
The Steam Machine is likely to be subject to the same RAM costs as the Steam Deck. Because the Steam Frame relies on the power of a companion PC that streams the action to a headset, this probably won’t be as much of an issue.
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