At long last, Valve has opened reservations for the mercurial Steam Machine. That said, the reservation system isn’t as straightforward as you might think.
First, the price. The Steam Machine starts at $1,049 for 512GB of storage. If you want the Steam Controller, you’ll need to add $79 to that subtotal.
Then there’s the 2TB model, which costs $1,349 without the Steam Controller and $1,428 with it.
These are not low prices, and Valve is aware. Speaking with The Verge, the company is not subsidizing the price because that “doesn’t align with our beliefs about how healthy ecosystems are built.”
According to Valve, other companies sell hardware at a lower cost because they can recoup costs down the line with subscriptions and exclusive games. That said, it’s hard to not also see the ongoing memory shortage as a huge determining factor of the prices.
If the price tags don’t scare you, you can sign up for a chance to reserve the Steam Machine. Each of the four options has its own sign-up list, and you can up for more than one option.
The sign-up window closes on June 25 at 10am PT. From there, Valve will use a “one-time randomization” that will determine everyone’s spots in line.
In order to sign up, you must have a Steam account “in good standing” and have made a purchase on Steam before April 27.
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