Steam Machine unlikely to launch in 2026 due to RAM crisis.

Valve's new PC gaming console, the Steam Machine, is unlikely to ship this year if the RAM crisis continues to worsen.

The Steam Machine, Valve's new PC gaming console intended to replace traditional living room gaming consoles, may not arrive in 2026. After already delaying pre-orders once this year, Valve is now backtracking further from its 2026 delivery commitment. The increasingly uncertain delivery times are due to an unprecedented memory crisis as the AI ​​hyper-scaling race leads to RAM shortages.

Valve acknowledged, "We recently shared that there are challenges regarding memory and storage shortages, but Valve will strive to ship all three products this year. We will share further updates as our plans are finalized."

Announced last fall, Valve initially planned to reveal pricing and pre-orders for the Steam Machine in early 2026. But that plan was almost immediately scrapped when the RAM crisis caused the component's price to skyrocket globally.

The 'first half of the year' target has now become 'we hope to ship in 2026'. The good news is that Valve hasn't ruled out a 2026 release. The bad news is that the factors driving this delay – soaring RAM and storage costs due to inventory being consumed by AI data centers – don't seem likely to disappear anytime soon.

Nvidia stated in its recent earnings call that it doesn't expect things to improve anytime soon. Perhaps Valve is still trying to finalize certain component contracts before committing to pricing, or perhaps they're simply hoping the situation will naturally improve over the next few months.

Initially, many speculated that the Steam Machine, based on specifications aimed at the current mid-range gaming PC configurations of Steam users, would cost more than the PS5 Pro. However, Valve only confirmed that its price would be comparable to a regular PC, not a $500 home console like the PS5, and that they wouldn't heavily subsidize the price using Steam revenue. All of that suggests the hardware device will ultimately cost more than anyone, including Valve, anticipated.