Last November, Valve announced their upcoming gaming hardware projects, including their next attempt at a console-like standalone gaming PC, so-called the “Steam Machine”. While technical information for the device has been fairly plentiful, the asking price at retail for it has not.
… until now… maybe.
You see, a Chech retailer apparently leaked the local price for the “Steam Machine”, and it isn’t good news. In short, it looks like Valve will effectively be asking around $1000 for their new computer, which might seem like a deal compared to other gaming PCs, except for one problem:
The specs on the “Steam Machine” are roughly equivalent to the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X… Consoles that you can buy for $500 nd $650, respectively.
That’s a little bit cheaper, isn’t it?
“Oh, but Scormey” you say, “The ‘Steam Machine’ is an actual computer, and can be used as a full PC while also being able to play games! It should cost more that outdated consoles!”
Okay, here’s the thing. People aren’t looking to buy the “Steam Machine” for a low-cost PC. If they were, they could buy a small form factor PC, a bluetooth keyboard with trackpad, and a PS5 for gaming… and still save money over the “Steam Machine”.
This is the problem here: PC users don’t understand Console fans. Those of us who choose to play our games on Consoles aren’t looking to use it as a PC. We just want a gaming machine. For computer tasks, we have PCs that aren’t suited to modern gaming, Chromebooks, tablets, even our phones.
We. Don’t. Need. A. Steam. Machine.
To be frank, though, PC gamers don’t need the “Steam Machine”, either. It isn’t especially powerful, and doesn’t use Windows by default, so either you have to use workarounds to get your non-gaming software running, or set up a dual-boot option, which is beyond the capabilities of many folk. PC gamers have their rigs already, and if they don’t, why buy a rig that is running outdated hardware? If it is to save money, then just buy a PS5 or XSX, over buying a “Steam Machine”, which are roughly the same power, anyway.
In short, it is starting to look like there is no upside at all to buying a “Steam Machine” for any gamer, be they PC or Console fans.
The primary audiences for the “Steam Machine” were Console users looking for a rig to play their Steam library on, or for PC users looking for a cheap second machine to play their games on in a casual way, such as in the living room. This pricing scale, though, fails both of those target fanbases.
It is too expensive for any gamer, should these rumors turn out to be true.
Yes, yes… I know. Valve plans to turn a profit on the “Steam Machine” hardware from the start, rather than subsidize it, to be able to get sales out of the gate. This is quite frankly a mistake. If the “Steam Machine” costs more than the current generation consoles, then there is no reason for most gamers to buy it. Only the richest and most tech-hungry people will pay around $1000 for this rig, and it will be an abject failure, just like the previous attempt at a “Steam Machine” a few years ago.
While Valve may not want to hear this, the only way they can break into the Console market (and despite their protestations, this is exactly what they want to do), they must sell for the same price as the current-generation consoles. In fact, considering one can drop $500 on a brand-new PS5 right now, Valve should be undercutting Sony by at least $50 a unit on release.
Would that hurt? Sure, but Valve can absolutely afford to make this sacrifice, and they would make back this money through increased sales of games on their Steam platform. In short, a short-term hurt for long-term financial gain.
This is why I really don’t believe these rumors are necessarily true. Either they are false, or Valve might be testing the waters, to see how the market responds to them. If fans react positively, then they could go ahead with selling for around $1000, or become Gaming Heroes by selling for a little less. But if the fanbase turns away from Valve over these rumors, denounces the “Steam Machine” and cancel plans to buy it, then Valve can sell for a more reasonable price, and claim the rumors were just the work of jealous rivals trying to hurt them.
Well, I for one will never pay $1000 for an over-priced PS5, Valve. And I was someone who was looking forward to buying a “Steam Machine” on Day One of release.
