Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller update: “We have work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates”

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Valve recently shared news about its Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller—hardware first announced in November 2025—including when they’ll be available and how much they’ll cost.

We originally intended to have pricing and release dates for these products available by now, as we announced in November. However, like many others in the industry, we’ve been significantly impacted by shortages and rising costs of memory and storage components. This means we need to adjust our shipping plans and pricing, particularly for the Steam Machine and Steam Frame.

We’re still aiming to release all three products in the first half of the year. However, we need to finalize pricing and launch dates before we can share them with you. These things can change quickly, so we want to be certain before announcing anything. We’ll share updates as soon as possible.

Valve will be sharing detailed information about the new hardware – including specific features, updates, and new additions – through the Steam Hardware blog. They’ve just published a FAQ to answer many of the common questions people have been asking.

Here is the full FAQ:

■ Steam Frame and VR

Will Steam Frame support other streaming services?

SteamOS comes with a web browser, and we anticipate that streaming services will function as if you’re in a cinema, with a full-screen viewing experience.

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.

Supplies are limited, but we are sending out kits on an ongoing basis.

Will Steam Frame work with lighthouse base stations?

We aren’t currently developing this feature ourselves, but we designed Steam Frame to be easily expanded and customized. This allows the community and other developers to create the features and accessories they want.

Can Steam Frame be used while wearing glasses?

So, a lot of us on the team wear glasses and have been testing with SteamVR, and it seems to work pretty well – though it really comes down to how wide your glasses are. We’re also working on a way for people who need them to get prescription lens inserts, and hopefully we’ll have more news on that before the headset officially launches.

I’ve been hearing about foveated streaming with Steam Frame. Is that the same as foveated rendering? And which games actually support it? Steam Frame is introducing this feature, but it’s important to know that while it uses eye tracking like foveated rendering, the technology behind them 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.

As a gamer, I’m really excited about foveated streaming because it works with all my games – the developers don’t even need to update anything! And the best part? If a game already uses foveated rendering, you get even more visual improvement when you combine it with streaming. It’s like a double boost for performance and clarity!

Will Valve Index have ongoing product support?

We’ve stopped producing the Valve Index headset, but we’ll continue to support existing Index owners just as we always have.

■ Steam Machine

How well can Steam Machine play newer, more demanding games on Steam?

During testing, most Steam games ran smoothly at 4K resolution with 60 frames per second when using FSR on the Steam Machine. However, some games needed more upscaling, and for those, it might be better to lower the framerate and enable VRR to keep the image looking sharp at 1080p.

We’re actively improving performance in several ways, including adding HDMI VRR support, enhancing upscaling technology, and optimizing ray tracing within the driver.

Will it be possible for companies other than Valve to create custom shells for the Steam Machine? And will Valve share the design files (CAD) needed to make those shells?

We’re planning to release the design files (CAD), specifications, and other details for the faceplate in the next few months. This will allow customers and manufacturers to create their own versions.

What components of Steam Machine are upgradeable?

You can easily access and upgrade the Steam Machine’s storage drive (either a fast NVMe 2230 or 2280 SSD) and its memory (using DDR5 SODIMMs).

■ Steam Controller

Can I play non steam games with the Steam Controller?

he controller can work with any game compatible with the Steam Overlay.

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2026-02-05 02:47