Valve breaks down the issues causing Steam Machine launch delay

Valve's new Steam Machine was originally slated for an early 2026 launch. The little black cube, which is a compact gaming PC that runs SteamOS, has been a project at Valve since 2013, but it's only now that the company feels they have both the software and hardware to make it truly viable. It's no surprise, then, that anticipation for the Steam Machine is high, but early 2026 has come and gone, and there's no sign of a launch yet, as multiple issues are causing delays.

Speaking about the Steam Machine, Valve UX designer Lawrence Yang, who worked on the Steam Deck and is now on the Machine, said, "I mean, obviously, we're bummed that this is the state of things. At the very least, we're not the only ones in this boat. Like everyone's kind of figuring out how to overcome these obstacles and challenges- RAM shortages, memory shortages, price hikes, everything."

He went on to tell PC Gamer that "it's unavoidable that it will impact basically anything we make that has any of those parts in them. We're doing our best to make sure that we can make the product still available at as good and competitive a price as we can. It's challenging for sure."

It's no surprise that RAM and SSD shortages are the main cause behind the delay, as we've already watched Valve struggle with this issue this year. In February, the company added a note to its Steam Deck store page warning that the OLED version of the handheld console may be out of stock due to shortages. Unfortunately for both consumers and Valve, AI data centers are still gobbling up every piece of RAM and every SSD they can get their hands on, and there doesn't seem to be any sign of this slowing down.

Still, there is some hope that we might see the Steam Machine sooner rather than later. Rumors suggest that Valve warehouses received a "ton of game consoles" in deliveries recently, leading some to believe that a full launch may happen this summer.

The Steam Machine is one of three hardware launches Valve has planned for this year. We've already gotten our hands on the Steam Controller, a great piece of equipment we believe will be essential in any PC gamer's arsenal, while we're also expecting to see the Steam Frame VR headset this year, too.