The AI-driven component crisis shows no signs of abating anytime soon; if anything, the situation is increasingly growing dire. Everything from SSDs to computer chips now cost orders of magnitude more than they did a couple of years ago. If you’re tech-savvy, you’ve probably heard all of this before — as a theory. But when even the people at Valve are warning fans about potential price shocks, it doesn’t inspire confidence that the Steam Machine will be able to retain its current pricing in the long run.
In an interview with Bloomberg about the creation and launch of Valve’s mini PC, engineers from the PC gaming company discussed pricing of tech components. Yazan Aldehayyat, one of the engineers on the project, told the publication that there are two possibilities when it comes to the component crisis. Prices can either come down, or the current pricing sticks around for the long term.
Aldehayyat does not outright say that the Steam Machine will get a price increase. But the way his opinion is phrased, it sure sounds like the $1049 console’s cost could be in danger.
“Honestly, it’s still getting worse,” Aldehayyat said of the component crisis. “Just in case people are not aware. What people are seeing on retail shelves right now, from our observations, is lagging what we’re seeing from a bulk supply by at least three to six months.”
Half a year from now, then, the Steam Machine — a piece of hardware widely considered to be overpriced — may end up with a price tag that makes the console’s current cost seem cheap. To be sure, the Steam Machine wouldn’t be the only product that would hypothetically be affected by potential price increases. Every major gaming console has already seen price hikes. Some price changes are yet to come, while other consoles have already pumped up costs several times in a single year. Subscription and software prices are decreasing to soften the blow, but ultimately, the consensus is that things will get much worse before they get better.
The sad part is, Valve didn’t want the Steam Machine to be this expensive. While planning the console, Valve was reportedly strong-armed into accepting prices dictated by RAM suppliers with little room to negotiate. Prior to that, Valve was apparently hoping to price the Steam Machine somewhere in the range of the $789 Steam Deck.
Anyone considering a Steam Machine may want to buy in before the prices explode again, but here’s the twist: you can’t. The hardware is currently being sold via waitlist. Ironically, even if components do become more expensive, the Steam Machine may turn out to be a more affordable purchase than whatever a PlayStation 6 or new Xbox might cost.
