The comments were made during an episode of the Friends Per Second podcast, where Valve developers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Lawrence Yang stopped short of naming a price, but offered a clearer picture of what the industry should anticipate.

“I think if you build a PC from parts and reach roughly the same level of performance, that’s the general pricing window we’re targeting,” Griffais explained. “Ideally, we’d be competitive and offer a strong value, but we’re still refining that.”

On Steam’s official page, that “level of performance” is described as a system built around a semi-custom, desktop-class AMD CPU and GPU, designed to hit 60 frames per second at 4K resolution with FSR upscaling.

The pair noted that broader market conditions are making it difficult to lock in a firm price. Memory costs, in particular, have been climbing steadily, with industry analysts citing surging demand from AI data centers as a key driver (via The Verge). PC Gamer reports that some RAM configurations now cost 150 percent more—or even higher—than they did as recently as this summer.

Asked whether the Steam Machine would be subsidized—sold at a loss to build market share—Griffais reiterated that Valve’s pricing approach is “closer to what you’d expect from today’s PC market.”

Meanwhile, game console prices continue to rise.

Recent console pricing trends underline that context. Sony raised PlayStation 5 prices in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, EMEA, and the UK in April, with a $50 increase hitting the U.S. in August due to a “challenging economic environment.” The standard PS5 now retails for $549.99, the Digital Edition for $499.99, and the PS5 Pro for $749.

Nintendo has kept the Switch 2 at its $449.99 launch price, but adjusted pricing for the original Switch lineup in August, affecting the base, OLED, and Lite models. Several Switch 2 accessories also became more expensive, with Nintendo citing shifting “market conditions.”

Xbox has followed a similar upward trajectory. In May, Microsoft raised console and controller prices globally and announced plans to price some first-party games at $80, a move it later reversed ahead of The Outer Worlds 2. In September, citing “macroeconomic conditions,” the company implemented another console price hike. The Xbox Series S now costs $400, while the Series X sits at $650—up from their original $300 and $500 price points.

Microsoft has also overhauled Xbox Game Pass, increasing the cost of its Ultimate tier by 50 percent, and Xbox developer kits have reportedly risen in price by 33 percent, from $1,500 to $2,000.

While Valve remains tight-lipped about the exact cost of its upcoming hardware, the broader picture is clear: throughout 2025, console prices across the industry have steadily climbed, with knock-on effects for accessories, games, and subscription services as well.