Steam Machine (2026)

You guys know I am a big Steam fan, being some of the first fans who own a Steam Deck in September 2022. I was happy with the Steam Deck for a time, until other PC handhelds entered the market – notably the ROG Ally, which was twice as good as the Steam Deck and, as a bonus, ran Windows so I had access to GOG and Epic Games. I basically abandoned the Steam Deck in favor of the ROG Ally, and then eventually the Legion Go.

Recently, Valve announced three additional new Steam Items to its expanding Steam Family: Steam Controller (version 2.0), Steam Frame, and the Steam Machine (version 2.0). They are all coming “early 2026”!

Steam Controller
I hated the original Steam Controller, so I am absolutely not looking forward (or at least even remotely interested) in this upcoming controller. I have previously said my impression of the first controller is that Steam have never used a controller before. It was a terrible, terrible controller. Valve even admitted that they designed the original controller without taking in account of traditional controller users. Now the new controller has a D-Pad, Analog left and right sticks, and two mousepads (for games that requires mouse inputs). It also comes with a receiver and charger, so your controller will always be charged and has the best input connection (through the receiver). It sounds cool, but I’ve been burned before, so I’ll unlikely get this new controller.

Steam Frame
We’ve been interested in Virtual Reality since the mass-market in 2016. We reported back then that the price $799 was expensive, compared to cheaper alternatives – Rift ($599), Razor ($300) Sony ($399/$499) and that the headset was heavy. We complained about the wires (tripping hazards), and it sucks for glass-wearers. Recently, MicroSoft teamed up with Facebook for their Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition. Even at $300, I felt it was very limited to what you can use it for – and especially because you still have to pay for Xbox to stream games.

I don’t have a great internet connection, and I don’t want to pay a subscription to stream games… so the Steam Frame looks like you don’t have to pay to stream your games, but you do need to own the game. There is only one game I want to play in VR, that’s Fallout 4, so the game lists doesn’t look that expansive. You can browse at all the VR Titles.

Steam Machine
Finally, this is what I’ve been waiting for: a more powerful Steam Deck. This is basically a Steam Deck, that is permanently tied to your television. According to Steam, it is six-times more powerful than the current Steam Deck – sign me up!!! One of the reasons why I abandoned my Steam Deck is because it just wasn’t fast enough or displayed in HD. The new Steam Machine can display up to 4k, but I think it’s upscaled.

I’m very interested in a new console box for my television, but I’m having second thoughts because I already own an Xbox Series X (and S), a ROG Ally, a PS4, an Apple TV, and various emulation Raspberry Pi… and the problem is that I don’t normally game on my TV. If I game, it’s at my computer or a portable handheld. The TV, well I usually just watch movies or television shows on the TV. I don’t normally game on there.

I also think I need to see the price. If it’s $400 or less, I’ll just get one. If it’s $500, then I would just rather get a PS5 (which I won’t get because it’s ugly). I suspect it will be more than $500, and I think that’s my biggest problem.