"Valve hasn't officially announced the price of its upcoming Steam Machine consoles. Maybe even CEO Gabe Newell doesn't know how much the company will eventually decide to charge. But that hasn't stopped a drip-feed of quote and speculation from pointing toward the higher end of the pricing spectrum. The company recently confirmed it won't be subsidizing the devices, seemingly squashing any chance of it being less than the price of a PlayStation 5 Pro."
"That was the sense we got from comments Valve made back when the Steam Machines were first revealed. Despite an emphasis on "affordability," the company was also quick to confirm that the consoles would be "very competitive with a PC you could build yourself from parts" but also closer to the "entry level of the PC space" than what some fans might be expecting."
"The scales have now tipped even further away from that price point in an interview Valve did with gaming channel Skill Up. YouTuber Ralph Panebianco asked point-blank if the company would use proceeds from Steam to make the hardware cheaper than it costs to manufacture. "No," software engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais said. "It's more in line with what you might expect from the current PC market. Obviously, our goal is for it to be a good deal at that level of performance.""
Valve has not announced Steam Machine pricing and indicated it will not subsidize the devices, removing expectations of a low console-like price. Previous company comments framed the machines as affordable yet comparable to an entry-level PC built from parts rather than a bargain console. A direct question about a $500 price point drew a muted response from Valve representatives. In a Skill Up interview, a Valve engineer stated that pricing will align with the current PC market and emphasized delivering good value at that performance level. Valve appears unwilling to sell hardware at a loss to grow market share.
Read at Kotaku
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