Remember the old Steam Machines? Those poor little Linux boxes from 2015 that tried their best, tripped on the starting line, and face-planted into the bargain bin?
Well guess what: Valve dug up the corpse, cast Revive, and is giving it another shot, and this time, it actually looks good. Like… REALLY good.
Meet the NEW Steam Machine, a tiny GameCube-sized cube that apparently hits the gym harder than the Steam Deck. Valve claims it’s packing “over six times the horsepower” of their handheld, which means it might finally run Cyberpunk 2077 without sounding like a rocket launch.
And yes, it runs SteamOS, which means glorious Linux freedom… and occasionally “why doesn’t this game launch?” energy. But don’t worry: Valve is expanding its “Deck Verified” system with a brand-new Steam Machine Verified checkmark. Because nothing says “peak PC gaming” like needing a sticker to tell you if your game works.
Here’s the quick breakdown:
- Cute little 6-inch cube
- Zen 4 CPU + RDNA3 GPU (a.k.a. “I lift, bro”)
- 16GB DDR5 + 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
- 512GB or 2TB SSD, expandable
- Enough ports to make a Swiss Army knife jealous
- Built-in power supply
- RGB strip, because of course it has RGB
Valve says it can do 4K/60 with FSR, but if you don’t love your games looking like they’re smeared in Vaseline, expect a very nice 1080p or 1440p instead.
As for price?
Valve is keeping that a mystery, which means it’ll either be shockingly reasonable or your wallet will try to escape the room. Release date? Sometime in 2026. Quarter unknown. Valve Time™ in full effect.
Oh, and alongside it we’re also getting a Steam Frame VR headset and a new Steam Controller.
Still, with the Steam Deck’s success, the stars might finally align. Maybe this Steam Machine is the chosen one: the console destined to rise, game, and not immediately die.
Until then, let’s start placing bets: Will it dethrone the PS5? Replace your gaming PC? Or become the cutest little Linux box your cat sleeps on?