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PayPalValve have put up an official explainer on why we haven't gotten released dates or pricing for the new Steam Hardware like the Steam Machine and Steam Frame. And of course, not forgetting the Steam Controller that I might just be the most excited for. I'm excited for all of it, but that controller looks delicious.
Unfortunately, the memory crisis with shortages and prices rising has been a factor in why we don't know more yet. As Valve said: "When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now. But the memory and storage shortages you've likely heard about across the industry have rapidly increased since then. The limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing (especially around Steam Machine and Steam Frame)".
This is pretty much expected, and anyone following the industry will no doubt have guessed that was the reason by now. However, as also previously mentioned by the AMD CEO, Valve say "Our goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year has not changed". But Valve aren't ready to talk any more on pricing or dates right now as things are changing so quickly.
As for your burning questions, Valve have a few other answers:
Steam Frame and VR
Will Steam Frame support other streaming services?
SteamOS has a built-in browser, and we expect streaming services to work in a theatrical browser mode.How can I request a Steam Frame developer kit?
Steamworks developers can submit a request for Steam Frame dev kits at the partner site here:https://partner.steamgames.com/hardware
Supplies are limited, but we are sending out kits on an ongoing basis.
Will Steam Frame work with lighthouse base stations?
It's not something we're working on, but we built Steam Frame to be modular and extensible so that the community and 3rd parties can build out the features and accessories that are important to them.Can Steam Frame be used while wearing glasses?
A bunch of people on the team wear glasses and use Steam Frame without issue, but it really depends on the width of the glasses frames. And while we don't have details to share yet, we are looking into making prescription lens inserts available ahead of launch.I heard that Steam Frame has foveated streaming - is that the same thing as foveated rendering? What games support it?
With Steam Frame, we are introducing a new feature called foveated streaming. While both use eye tracking data, the technology is different:
• Foveated rendering uses eye tracking data so the game only renders high resolution data in the portion of the viewport that the player is looking at.
• Foveated streaming, on the other hand, uses eye tracking data so that the PC only streams high resolution data in the portion of the viewport the player is looking at.
Since foveated streaming is a system-level feature, it applies to all games, and requires no game developer work. If a game implements foveated rendering, the benefits of that feature will stack with foveated streaming.
Will Valve Index have ongoing product support?
While we're no longer making Valve Index, we do intend to support Index owners the same way we have in the past on an ongoing basis.Steam Machine
How well can Steam Machine play newer, more demanding games on Steam?
In our testing the majority of Steam titles play great at 4K 60FPS with FSR on Steam Machine. That said, there are some titles that currently require more upscaling than others, and it may be preferable to play at a lower framerate with VRR to maintain a 1080p internal resolution.
In the meantime, we are working on HDMI VRR, investigating improved upscaling, and optimizing ray tracing performance in the driver, so we are approaching this from multiple anglesWill third parties be able to make faceplates for Steam Machine? Will you be making the CAD for those faceplates available?
Yes, we plan to share faceplate CAD, specs, and details in the coming months, for customers and manufacturers to make their own.What components of Steam Machine are upgradeable?
Steam Machine's SSD (NVMe 2230 or 2280) and memory (DDR5 SODIMMs) are both accessible and upgradeableSteam Controller
Can I play non steam games with the Steam Controller?
The controller can work with any game compatible with the Steam Overlay.
See all in the blog post.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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If delayed to next year the Machine might need an upgrade but I would definitely be more interested in it by then.
Right now gimmie Steam Controller ASAP.
Early adopters already know they want it.
Too bad for Lighthouse not being part of a planned implementation for Frame but I do hope it gets implemented later or done by fans cause I think VR needs it for the best it can be.
Least it's an open platform so sky's the limit.
So they can either sell now at to high a price because of the market
Or they sell next year with outdated specs for a still high price (memory won't drop big time next year)
Quoting: BumadarSo they can either sell now at to high a price because of the marketUnfortunately true. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. It doesn't seem farfetched to predict that, one way or another, the AI memory crisis is going to ruin the Steam Machine.
Or they sell next year with outdated specs for a still high price (memory won't drop big time next year)
If I had to choose between the two, I'd say it's at least better to release it while the prices are high. At least that way you can still price it competitively according to the market, even if barely anyone is buying hardware because of the cost.
The other option, delaying release too long, is just an unrecoverable situation since it guarantees an inability to compete.
I feel like the Frame and Controller can afford the delay. I assume the controller also has onboard memory and/or storage, so its price is likely affected as well even if not nearly as much as the other two.
Philadelphus 9 hours ago
• Foveated rendering uses eye tracking data so the game only renders high resolution data in the portion of the viewport that the player is looking at.I must be misunderstanding this, because I don't really see much benefit from foveated streaming. Foveated rendering makes sense; the game can selectively render a small area in higher detail and save compute power for the rest of the frame that's not in the user's central vision (thus allowing potentially higher framerates). For foveated streaming, it sounds like the PC still has to render the entire frame in high resolution, only for a bunch of that data to be lossily dropped in the streaming process. (This seems to be the only way it could be a "system-level feature" that "applies to all games".) I get that that has the benefit of lowering the amount of data streamed, but that doesn't seem like a particularly large benefit for a device that will likely be kept in close proximity to its broadcasting station; it might marginally improve battery life or provide redundancy in electronically-noisy environments, but as far as I can tell it neither improves the image the user sees nor reduces the amount of computing power the GPU needs. What am I missing here? 🤔
• Foveated streaming, on the other hand, uses eye tracking data so that the PC only streams high resolution data in the portion of the viewport the player is looking at.
Quoting: PhiladelphusI must be misunderstanding this, because I don't really see much benefit from foveated streaming.The benefit is in limited bandwidth. The Frame doesn't have a wired option - it can only be used wirelessly. Foveated streaming doesn't reduce the rendering load at all, it's true, but it does maintain the perceived quality of the image where bandwidth is limited or variable.
Should eye-tracking become a baseline expected feature of VR headsets following its inclusion in the Frame (and which will necessarily be the case for, say, ARM and Android games put on Steam for use on the Frame) then game devs can justify utilising it for foveated rendering, which does reduce rendering load. They haven't been able to rely on eye-tracking being available generally, so they haven't generally bothered with foveated rendering. Foveated streaming makes sensible use of eye-tracking orthogonally to the foveated rendering chicken-and-egg. Both techniques can be used together with headsets that have eye-tracking.
Last edited by CatKiller on 5 Feb 2026 at 5:16 am UTC
Johnologue 6 hours ago
we do intend to support Index owners the same way we have in the pastSo not very much at all then 😅
Cameras still not working after all these years
The controller can work with any game compatible with the Steam Overlay.I don't understand. Does the controller in any way rely on Steam Overlay being active? 🤔
Quoting: CatKillerLess data means less transmission time, means lower lag. The problem with (wireless) streaming is too much data to get it to the other side with as little delay as possible. And delay is what makes you feel sick.Quoting: PhiladelphusI must be misunderstanding this, because I don't really see much benefit from foveated streaming.The benefit is in limited bandwidth. The Frame doesn't have a wired option - it can only be used wirelessly. Foveated streaming doesn't reduce the rendering load at all, it's true, but it does maintain the perceived quality of the image where bandwidth is limited or variable.
Arehandoro 5 hours ago
- If the devices are delayed, it will mean more developing time for HDMI VRR (HUGE, btw!!), FSR, Leap, Frame UI, QA for all of it... and maybe even for a Half-Life 3 🤣 Plus whatever I'm forgetting.
- I'd prefer waiting 6 months and see a price most people can get on board with, that rushing the release and see the machines flop.
- It also gives us more time to save some ££$$€€ (Will even start saving on groceries too when I change my diet to solely eating the rich)
Last edited by Arehandoro on 5 Feb 2026 at 9:54 am UTC
rustigsmed 5 hours ago
So yeah, we can thank Sam Altman for killing one of the best opportunities after de Deck, for Linux to gain market share. At least thanks to him, we can feed ourselves tons of slop on Youtube 🤮
The Deck was also delayed because of chips shortage after the Covid crisis.
And now their new Steam Machine and Steam frame are also facing RAM and storage shortage because of the AI mania.
The concentration of high-end manufacturing capabilities is not helping the consumer electronic market.
I'm guessing once it becomes clear Q3 2026 isn't getting any better (the Nvidia guess for the Supers or thereabouts) is when we're getting dates and pricing - at the latest. The growing GPU shortage is perhaps the flipside to this coin, but relying on that too much positions the hardware explicitly as the "less bad" option rather than a "cool affordable device" that perhaps gives this legs rather than a temporary boost to sales While There's Few Other Options Out There.
Maybe. We'll see.
From my point of view... I'm into the controller, and hopefully there's no RAM in there, I'm not in the market for the Steam Machine, and if the Frame isn't a good value I'll just continue skipping VR altogether.
Quoting: neolithI'm curious as to what this means as wellThe controller can work with any game compatible with the Steam Overlay.I don't understand. Does the controller in any way rely on Steam Overlay being active? 🤔
Sounds like the controller might be dependant on steam input maybe
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