Valve Corporation’s original price estimate for the Steam Machine was higher than the recently raised Steam Deck price, it is claimed.
When the Steam Machine was announced around 2 months ago, Extended Reality (XR) specialist Brad Lynch was told Valve Corporation’s original price estimate for the upcoming hardware, which was allegedly higher than the newly raised price of the Steam Deck. Based on this information, the company had initially planned to launch its console-sized PC starting at around 800 US Dollars or more.
Using the Steam Deck’s price hike metrics, if Valve Corporation had originally planned to sell the 512GB Steam Machine model for 800 US Dollars or more, it would now be expected to priced at $1,040 or higher. Meanwhile, if the 2TB variant was initially priced at 1,000 US Dollars, it would now sell for 1,420 US Dollars.
Valve Corporation officially raised prices for Steam Deck OLED models worldwide, with the increases taking effect immediately across multiple regions including the United States, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland. In the US, the 512GB OLED Steam Deck has increased from $549 to $789, marking a $240 jump. Meanwhile, the 1TB OLED model has risen from $649 to $949, representing a $300 increase. The changes amount to roughly a 45% price increase for both OLED configurations. Reports also note that several models remain out of stock despite the pricing adjustments. The company has not publicly detailed the reason behind the global price changes at the time of writing.
Last month, Lynch mentioned hearing that the Steam Machine had internally received a substantial price hike, while the Steam Frame is “not as bad.” However, he refrained from sharing specifics. Earlier, in a message published on Steam as part of the company’s Year in Review discussion, Valve Corporation acknowledged that supply issues have created complications for its new devices. “We shared recently that there have been challenges with memory and storage shortages, but we will be shipping all three products this year. More updates will be shared as we finalize our plans.”
