Linus Tech Tips reveals Steam Machine price prediction as Valve want it to be “good deal”

Linus Tech Tips has made his official prediction for the price of the Steam Machine after saying that he was “disappointed” Valve wouldn’t price it like a console. 

On November 12, Valve unveiled the Steam Machine, their first desktop gaming PC and first piece of new hardware since the Steam Deck. Naturally, the internet was pretty wowed by the fact that Valve would be releasing a PC of their own, but the fact that they didn’t disclose a price caused some concern. 

Linus Tech Tips revealed that, during a preview event, he suggested a $500 price point to Valve. However, he was “disappointed” when they bristled at the idea of following console pricing. 

“Even if the Steam Machine is like at $600 or $700, it isn’t going to have any justification for it,” the tech YouTuber added, arguing that the PS5 Pro is a much more powerful piece of kit. 

LTT predicts $699.99 price for the Steam Machine

Well, after plenty of online discourse about the Steam Machine’s pricing, Linus has followed up with his official prediction for the initial cost.

“Without being a fly on the wall in their boardroom, it’s impossible to say for sure. All that Valve would tell us is that they want their hardware business to be sustainable, but what does that mean?” he said on November 27. 

“I think it means $699.99, if there’s no major changes in the market. It’s probably above Valve’s cost today, and there will be some opportunities for them to improve their margins over the several-year lifespan of their device as their initial investment gets paid off and, hopefully, RAM and SSD pricing returns to some kind of normalcy.”

Timestamp of 12:25

Linus noted that the Steam Machine offers a “compelling” value at that price point, especially with the ability to have four Steam Controllers linked up to it at once. 

“I don’t love this answer, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s sitting here wishing that it was priced like a game console, who wouldn’t want that affordable of a PC?” he added. 

“A big reason I want this thing to be affordable so bad is because it is a PC, with all the benefits of a PC!”
Valve are not disclosing the price until closer to the launch of the Steam Machine, similar to Xbox’s ROG Ally X.

They have confirmed that it will be priced like a PC, but want it to be a “pretty good deal,” for anyone buying it.