Valve Returns to the Living Room with New Steam Machine

Valve is stepping back into the console spotlight with the reveal of its next-gen Steam Machine, a compact gaming PC built for the living room. Announced alongside a new Steam Controller and the Steam Frame VR headset, the lineup marks Valve’s most ambitious hardware push since the Steam Deck.

Described by the company as “a powerful gaming PC in a small but mighty package,” the new Steam Machine promises to deliver full PC performance in a sleek six-inch cube. It runs on Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS and uses AMD graphics, capable of supporting 4K resolution at 60 frames per second.

The device will arrive in early 2026, with 512GB and 2TB models available. A new Steam-branded controller—featuring magnetic thumbsticks and dual trackpads—will launch at the same time, sold separately or in a bundle. Valve hasn’t confirmed pricing yet but says the console will offer “really good value.”

Valve says it designed the Steam Machine to make PC gaming more accessible for people who want to play from the couch rather than a desktop setup. “As far as we're concerned the Steam Machine is a PC, so that delineation is not there,” said hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat. “It’s just one other option that people can have available to play their Steam games basically.”

The Steam Machine’s debut comes as Microsoft and Sony prepare for their own next-gen hardware launches. Xbox’s next console is rumored to be a PC/console hybrid capable of running PlayStation games via Steam, while Sony’s PS6 is reportedly sticking with a more traditional approach.

Still, Xbox boss Phil Spencer congratulated Valve on the announcement, saying: “Gaming moves forward when players and developers have more ways to play and create, especially across open platforms.” He added, “As one of the largest publishers on Steam, we welcome new options for players to access games everywhere. Congrats on today's announce.”

Valve is also expanding into VR again with the Steam Frame, a wireless headset that’s a “streaming-first device” but can also run games directly on SteamOS. The headset uses eye-tracking to render only the parts of the image the player is focusing on in full detail—a major technical leap over previous VR tech.

Industry watchers see the Steam Machine as a smart evolution of Valve’s growing hardware ecosystem. Analyst Brandon Sutton said it shows Valve’s “strong grasp of where the gaming market is headed and what gamers want,” while Christopher Dring compared it to the Steam Deck—“a lucrative but niche product for enthusiasts who already love Steam.”

Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais downplayed talk of a console war, saying the company isn’t trying to compete directly with Xbox or PlayStation. “Everything we do is informed by what’s happening on the PC gaming side of things,” he said. “There’s quite a bit of overlap with consoles, but we’re focused on making PC gaming better in the living room.”

With more than 40 million daily Steam users and growing interest in hybrid gaming systems, Valve’s timing could be perfect. The last attempt at a Steam Machine fizzled in 2015—but this time, with its own hardware expertise and a thriving PC ecosystem, Valve might just have a shot at changing the game.