After a long week of player and industry speculation, gaming giant Valve confirms its new Steam Machine home console will not be priced like a console, a carefully-worded disclosure that all but confesses the new hardware will cost players more than they’d hoped.

The Steam Machine will be priced like a PC, not like consoles from Microsoft or Sony, says a Valve spokesperson.

In a video interview with the YouTube channel Skill Up, Valve software engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais implied that the Steam Machine would not be “subsidized,” as in Valve does not intend to help absorb some of the cost to make it more competitive with today’s console market.

It's the Steam Deck's first anniversary and Valve is celebrating the occasion by offering its very first discount on the popular PC handheld platform. It's odd to think that it has already been a year since the Steam Deck's availability began. Few likely ...

No subsidies is basically the final nail in the coffin for any hope that the Steam Machine will be priced to compete directly with a Switch 2, PS5, or pre-tariff Xbox Series X. Some fans are still hoping the 512GB model might come in between $600 and $700, which would put it around the current price of the 1TB Steam Deck OLED.

The recent announcement from Valve of a new slate of hardware products has excited players, but while a revamped Steam Controller and an updated virtual reality headset, the Steam Frame, have drawn plenty of attention, the biggest buzz is around the new generation of Steam Machines.

Valve has announced a return to its Steam Machine PC / console hybrid hardware alongside a new version of the Steam Controller.

A Valve engineer confirms the rumors that the Steam Machine will not have a subsidized MSRP and explains why this is the case.