On Wed, 12 Nov 2025 17:53:40 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

But I just can't see it working out any better this time then it did
back in 2015.

A follow-up:

It seems likely that the SteamMachine will retail for ~$1,000 USD.
We're seeing more and more clues that will be the case.

And given that its specs aren't that incredible, I think this means
the device will be dead in the water on launch.

It's just not that good a PC. It's not even that good of a mini-PC;
it's not that small and its cube-like shape doesn't fit well into a
multimedia stand. Not that I think there are a large number of people
clamoring for a PC-in-the-living-room anyway. Much less one that has
limited compatibility with games (Proton is awesome, but it won't run
a lot of the biggest games because of DRM issues). But all that and a
high price?

Yeah, I don't see it taking off.

This isn't entirely on Valve, of course. PC component prices have
skyrocketed recently, and it's probably impossible for Valve to make a halfway-decent gaming PC inexpensively. Valve has stated that it won't
be using its Steam monies to subsidize the cost of the device; they
won't be selling it under cost hoping to make it up by selling more
games on Steam. And given how small the market for this type of device
is anyway (again, living room PCs aren't in hot demand) I can imagine
they don't want to sink more resources into the project than
necessary.

But none of this gives me any confidence that these things will sell.
And if Valve can't make a go of it, I can't see Dell or HP or any
other OEM investing a lot into the market either.

Will Steam Machine Mk. 2 die on the shelves? Who's to say... but I
don't think it will do very well.



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