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

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.

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

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.

Valve reportedly says its upcoming Steam Machine will be priced more like a PC, rather than a console, as Xbox comparisons stir up price speculations.

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.

Although Valve hasn't announced the Steam Frame's price, we have our best educated guess as to how much the upcoming VR headset will cost.

Valve have confirmed the Steam Machine's price will be comparable to a custom-built PC with similar performance, rather than subsidised like a console.

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