Here's what a Valve engineer had to say about pricing for the six-inch cube. As part of Valve's big hardware announcements today, the company did not disclose a price for the new Steam Machine device. Hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat was asked in an interview about what Valve's position is, at a high level, regarding pricing, and Aldehayyat said the aim is to land at a "competitive price" that matches up with the value provided. This is what most companies say about their new products, and Valve is following suit. The aim, he said, is to make it "affordable." At the same time, industry experts have weighed in with specific price-point predictions--see below for those details. "If you're trying to make a PC that has similar features and similar performance, I think the Steam Machine is going to be a really competitive price to that and provide really good value to it," he told IGN. Aldehayyat said affordability is a key concern for many today, maybe more than ever, as inflation ticks up and concerns remain ongoing due to the impact of tariffs. "The affordability piece you mentioned is one of the reasons why we think a Steam Machine makes a lot of sense right now. So it's just something that we thought about every time we made a hardware decision, a feature decision, is to make sure that we keep it as approachable, as affordable as possible," Aldehayyat added. That's a lot of nebulous talk, but it's as much as Valve was willing to say at this juncture. The system is set to be released in Spring 2026, with preorders presumably opening beforehand. Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics said the "sweet spot" for the Steam Machine would be $400 for an entry model with a controller. "This would really send a message, as console manufacturers have been raising their prices. A digital PS5 costs $499, while the Xbox Series X Digital is $599," he pointed out. A higher price point, like something above $500, would be risky, Elliott said. "It risks being perceived as an expensive niche PC (like the rumored next-generation Xbox) rather than an accessible living-room gaming option," he mentioned. Not everyone sees things the same way with regards to pricing. F-Squared's Michael Futter said he expects the starting price to be between $800 and $(00 for the 512GB Steam Machine and $1,000 or $1,100 for the 2TB edition. The system's specs could "rival a PS5 and maybe even hit PS5 Pro performance." This means it could carry a "hefty price tag." DFC Intelligence's David Cole, meanwhile, said the Steam Machine could start at $800 and scale up to $1,000 for a 2TB model. The analyst said Valve will look to establish "very low margins" or even a break-even price-point for the system. Cole said the Steam Machine could be priced "below a gaming PC but slightly above a high-end console." Superdata's Joost Van Dreunen said the base model could be as cheap as $550, scaling to $750 for the 2TB edition. He said Valve might take a "modest" loss on each Steam Machine to help it reach more people. "Just like Sony and Microsoft, the real money isn't in the box, it's in the ecosystem you enter once you buy it," Van Dreunen said. "To me the question isn't whether Valve can afford to eat margin. It's whether they want the SteamOS footprint to grow fast enough to justify it. … Strategically, this is about expanding the platform, not squeezing the hardware." Popular YouTuber Linus Tech Tips spoke with Valve about the Steam Machine and specifically the price. He says he was told that Valve was unable to discuss pricing "due to rapidly evolving market conditions," which could be a reference to tariffs and the general global economic market. "They did give me one hint, though. They said that while they expect it to be very competitively priced with a PC, that it will be priced like a PC. Rather than like a console with games subsidizing the upfront hardware price," he said, as reported by Vice. Beyond the new hardware, Valve is working on a MOBA game called Deadlock. The secretive game has been available for testing, but still has no release date or full details.