First of all, despite what you might think, this is not rage bait. Just keep reading.
The long-awaited Steam Machine is finally becoming available to the public for purchase starting June 29th, and that’s great… but there’s a problem, that will likely kill any momentum it had: The price. Now I think we all knew in our hearts that, considering the economy and the state of RAM and digital storage pricing, that Valve would have to price the Steam Machine around $1000. Not ideal by any means, and only within reach of the most die-hard of fanboys, but still acceptable, considering… everything going on in the world right now.
What a difference a hundred or so dollars makes.
Earlier this week the official prices for the Steam Machine were announced, and on the surface, they seem in the ballpark for what was expected. $1049 may have been slightly higher than what was expected, but still within reach for those fans most ardently interested in the device. But that’s not the problem, oh no…
The problem is that price is for an incomplete, lower-functionality model.
For the low, low price of $1049, you will get the Steam Machine with only 512GB of storage, and most importantly, no controller. So you best be willing to use some other controller, or just plug in a keyboard and mouse to make use of your shiny new mini gaming computer.
But, if you actually want to use the Steam Machine as intended, with an actual built-in controller, that’s going to set you back $1128 for the 512GB model. Yes, that is still within the price range of entry-level, lower powered gaming computers, but since this is a gaming device that is aiming at the console market, suddenly it is a device that is no more powerful than a Playstation 5 or Xbox Series X, but significantly more expensive.
Oh, but just wait… it gets better.
If you want a Steam Machine that actually has a reasonable amount of storage on-board (2TB), that is going to cost you $1349 for just the box itself, or $1428 with a built-in Steam controller. Now we are hundreds of dollars outside of the “Entry Level Gaming PC” range, and well beyond the modern console prices. Hell, for that sort of money, I could buy a PS5 Pro 2TB model ($899) and an Xbox Series X 2TB version ($799), and not be spending all that much more to have both major current-gen consoles.
“But do they play Steam?”
No, of course not (yet). But here’s the thing… Whether Valve wants to admit it or not, the Steam Machine is focused squarely on taking on the current-gen console market, and it is woefully overpriced for that. Valve may say that the Steam machine is intended to compete with entry level, lower powered gaming PCs, which is why it is priced like it is, but it doesn’t really compete there, either.
I bought a rather nifty gaming laptop a couple of months ago. let’s see how it stacks up against the Steam machine, shall we?
My Laptop: Acer Nitro V, which is most certainly an entry-level gaming PC
- Processor: Intel i5-13420H (8 cores, 12 threads)
- Graphics: nVidia GeForce RTX 5050 with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM
- Memory: 16GB DDR5
- Storage: 1TB NVME SSD
The Steam Machine:
- Processor: AMD Zen 4 (6 cores, 12 threads)
- Graphics: AMD RDNA 3 (Navi 33) custom GPU
- Memory: 16GB DDR5
- Storage: 512GB SSD
The thing is, I only paid $850 for my laptop a few months ago, but you can buy it right now for $969, since they are running out of stock. With the baseline Steam Machine going for $1049, does that sound like Valve is competing with the entry-level gaming market? The Steam Machine is pretty close in comparable parts to my laptop (although at only 512GB SSD for storage, it makes gaming much more difficult), but at least $100 more expensive, for just the basic model. Add just a controller, and you’re paying a couple of hundred more.
In short, there are benefits to the Steam Machine, to be sure. I’d still like to buy one for my living room, but at those prices, I just can’t justify the expense. The important point here is that I won’t be alone in this decision. Gaming is becoming more and more of a luxury in this economy, and with that in mind, companies need to balance the price of their products against what people will reasonably b e willing to spend on them. This is why consoles for years have been sold at a loss more often than not, while their manufacturers make back that money on games sold for that console. Valve could have done this with the Steam Machine, and perhaps are, to at least some degree. But whomever thought $1049 for a barebones device was a good idea needs to be fired.
Seriously.
Once the initial rush of idiots with more money than brains buy themselves a Steam Machine, the market will dry up completely. Good luck trying to sell these to regular folk at these prices, when they can just go grab a console for significantly less money.