The Steam Machine is still "on track" for its original release window, according to Valve’s chosen chipmakers

When is "early" 2026, anyway

Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine reboot mightiness not beryllium arsenic troubled by ongoing representation shortages arsenic antecedently feared. Or, astatine least, not arsenic delayed.

As spotted by VideoCardz, AMD – who supply the customized processor nestled wrong the Steam Machine’s matte achromatic walls – precocious held a quarterly net call, successful which CEO Dr. Lisa Su declared Valve to beryllium "on way to statesman shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine aboriginal this year." While inactive vague, that’s successful enactment with Valve’s primitively announced "early 2026" merchandise window, suggesting that soaring RAM and SSD prices haven’t pushed the caller Machine backmost by much, if astatine all.

Now, a pessimistic caput mightiness not beryllium wholly reassured. Earnings calls tin beryllium adjuvant for illustrating a company’s past fortunes, but erstwhile predicting the future, the assemblage being afloat of shareholders tin incentivise optimism implicit hard realism. And arsenic 1 of the tech industry’s starring AI peddlers, AMD are besides partially liable for the representation shortage – successful which affluent firms are hoarding RAM, storage, and GPU products to physique gigantic AI information centres – that caused hold concerns successful the archetypal place.

Still, it’s besides successful AMD’s involvement to get the Steam Machine into arsenic galore waiting hands arsenic possible, and since constituent shortages are wide expected to proceed each the mode into 2027 and beyond... well, if I were Valve, I astir apt would similar to commencement selling astatine a higher-than-preferred terms alternatively of leaving an untouched upland of GabeCubes stacked successful immoderate warehouse, making a nett of precisely zero. Unless I could physique a fort retired of them, obviously.

Anyhoo, the Steam Machine itself remains an intriguing portion of kit: a small spot customisable PC, a small spot lounge-dwelling console, with a Steam Deck-inspired compatibility programme and a redesigned Steam Controller to marque besties with. I’m looking guardant to playing it immoderate more, whenever it ends up escaping RAM purgatory.