220°

Announcing new Steam Hardware, coming in 2026

Wishlist now: Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame

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steamcommunity.com
65d ago
andy8565d ago

This all rides on the price tbh. Seems to be about the power of a PS5/Series X. Do find it odd it only having 8GB VRAM IN 2025. Anything under 500 it might work. But whos it for? PC gamers want a more customisable setup and the ease of use people just get a console

chrisx65d ago (Edited 65d ago )

If the price is right I’ll be getting one. I've never been a PC gamer but this looks neat. RIP to my wallet 🥲

RaidenBlack64d ago

@andy85
Its for folks who are usually on consoles but want a PC based alternative that's more console-like but also not having a handheld form factor/restriction.

VersusDMC65d ago

It all rides on it being sold in every store.
The steam deck was powerful and had a decently priced version but hasn't outsold the Vita and the Switch 2 already out sold it.

Gravesinger_64d ago

Hahaha, you really don't know anything about Valve and Lord Gaben, do you? They didn't make the Steam Deck to compete with and out-sell the Switch or the Switch 2, never have. They have an almost perfect ecosystem with Steam, and that is where they sell their devices. They don't need the Steam Deck, Steam controller, Steam frame, or the Steam Machine to be in every store. People like me, already in their ecosystem, will buy these products just fine, and those who want the products will join the ecosystem to get them adding another freed soul to the glory and righteousness that is Lord Gaben. Hope this helps.

RaidenBlack64d ago

Was expecting a partner software announcement from Valve as well, to act as the rare Valve catalyst driving interest in their new hardware.

Miraak82 65d ago

It's good for people who still want that console like experience but more open ended and you don't have to pay to play online . Steam also has way more games then PSN and alot more games get released earlier on PC then consoles . If I wasn't getting a gaming PC soon I'd consider this as I personally wish I could get more out of my PS , PS3 was a great media hub for its time but 4 & 5 not so much , general apps are really inferior on them or non existent compared to my pc or phone . Unless I'm strictly gaming my ps5 basically get no other use

SlothLordPootus65d ago

Depends on how well proton can help id imagine. DF said it's likely somewhere between series S and PS5

Profchaos64d ago

It's actually lower performance than a ps5 and exists in between a ps5 and seres s

The price though is aligned with the ps5

Vits64d ago

Honestly, I don’t even know if they care about having a core market. I do market analysis and target marketing for a living, so I would like to assume they did their homework. But since they’re a private company with a history of just doing whatever they want, I wouldn’t be surprised if they simply came up with the idea and decided to go for it.

From the outside, the group that seems the most excited about it is the SFF and HTPC crowd, which isn’t really surprising. But I think what we’ll actually see is a mix of console power users and more casual PC players picking it up.

When it comes to the hardware, it’s a bit weird. The CPU looks like a rejected 8650U or 8640HS with the iGPU disabled. If that’s true, it’s actually smart, since it reuses parts and probably helps keep the price down. The RAM and storage look fine, but the GPU is kind of a strange choice. People keep talking about the amount of VRAM, but that doesn’t really matter much because it’s still just an overclocked RX 7600M. It’s not great for 1440p or 4K gaming where extra VRAM actually makes a difference.

Making it worse is that this RDNA 3 GPU isn’t fully compatible with FSR 4. That’s the real shame, because FSR 4 is a huge step up from FSR 3. Maybe the plan really is to appeal more to console players, since FSR 3 and older versions are what most of them are already used to. Even Nintendo is apparently using it in some Switch 2 games for whatever reason. But if this was a RX 9060 instead, it would be amazing for years to come.

ocelot0764d ago

If the price is right I'm thinking max £600 for the one with the 512gb SSD. I'll happily buy one for the living room.

Sure this Steam Cube (or GabeCube) is the power of a PS5 with FSR that's still pretty damn good. But think about Legion Go S that ships with SteamOS now. I think more venders will make similar mini PC's with SteamOS. I'm hope this is just the start of things to come for SteamOS PC's.

It's aimed at pretty much anyone. I'm someone who builds PC's with my eyes closed but I'm excited for it providing the price is right.

What about the people or are sick of Xbox and their BS but don't practically want to jump to Playstation? Instead of paying £900 for a handheld Rog ally. Here is a nice little pc with a controller that will try and easy you in to pc gaming. Miss gamepass or want to play battlefield 6 online? Get a second drive and put windows on it have the power of dual boot. SteamOS for most gaming. But it you want to play battlefield online boot into the windows drive that has steam big picture mode open up on boot and load up battlefield.

Exciting times ahead.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 64d ago
blacktiger65d ago

If it's LINUX I don't care as long it's affordable

JohnnyRambo64d ago

It's a small box with fairly low end hardware really. There's nothing special about this except for maybe the form factor and if you like Steam OS.

This won't sway any PC gamer as they likely already have a much more capable system. The CPU in this is the only capable thing in it, the rest of it is passable.. Just.

Gamersunite88065d ago

If Valve plays their cards right, they could replace Xbox as the third competitor.

DivineHand12565d ago

That is unlikely based on historical data. If Valve limits the distribution of this mini pc to their own store similar to the steam deck then it will limit the sales.

In addition to this, the vram is half as much as the Xbox Series X and base PS5. At 8 gb vram, it would be in the realm of the Xbox Series S where it would be difficult to load high or ultra quality textures. This limits the amount they can charge for the device a lot of gamers may still choose to get a PS5 over this device even there is no online subscription.

At this point, it all comes down to the price. If it is too high, then you will see a flood of tech youtubers building their own steam console for less money thus canibalizing on what Valve is trying to bring forward.

LucasRuinedChildhood64d ago

Plus due to anti-cheat, believe some big multiplayer games do not work at all on the Steam Deck.

DaCajun64d ago

Unless I'm mistaken xboxsx and ps5 use a shared 16gb of ram total in there console not 16 gb of vram. This thing has 16gb of system ram and 8gb of vram, but it should be atleast 12gb of vram these days. But for what it is a budget pc console is not bad if the price is right.

Gamersunite88064d ago

That's what I meant by if Valve plays their cards right. That's true, that distribution has been a problem for them, so I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, but there's a chance it can happen.

64d ago
lukasmain65d ago (Edited 65d ago )

This has smashed any hope Xbox had left for their over-priced next-gen console (PC). Dead in the water. This thing looks really cool. Xbox going to price out millions of potential adopters.

--Onilink--64d ago

How so? If anything it is basically the exact same concept MS seems to be going for their own “console” but this one is clearly aimed at a much more budget spec, basically base PS5 (with strangely low VRAM).

If this is successful, it would prove the concept at least, is sound. Then it would be a matter of whether going for a more higher spec’d machine / price, with the option of more storefronts (but Windows, though hopefully they continue to build on their current work) is also an appealing proposition

64d ago Replies(2)
Lightning7764d ago

Highly doubt it. Are they gonna convince ppl who play fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox crowd? No are they gonna convince them to leave their library of games Worth's 1000's? Most importantly are their friends gonna move over to it and follow them? No. It's gonna grab the ones who already have a X, 5, S2 even handhelds. That small. Market of hardcore gamers who buy everything. The guy who only plays Madden, FIFA, MLB every year? Definitely not. Customers at large won't even know what this thing is, nor would they even care. Hell if you can't even convince PS4 or X1 users to upgrade to current gen to what makes you think this thing will replace the Xbox? It'll sell 5 maybe 7m max if that.

lukasmain64d ago

You're probably right. We'll have to see how easily its "plug and play" aspect works. We need a bit more info especially about the Roblox and Fortnite type stuff on the steam box. But I most likely agree with you and I also agree when you said the nextgen very expensive premium Xbox will probably sell about 20million max. We'll see though. Interesting times ahead.

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