Valve has announced it will be releasing new hardware in 2026, which we now know to be the Steam Machine. This new PC-console hybrid will essentially work like a PC in terms of its outright compatibility and versatility, but will be used more like a traditional console.
That’s not all, however, as Valve also announced a new VR headset, known as the Steam Frame and a new Steam Controller, all of which are planned to ship sometime in early 2026.
Steam Machine
The Steam Machine will work like a PC in the sense that it has access to multiple stores and applications, as well as the ability to run different operating systems. That being said, we can only imagine that SteamOS will be the standard operating system here.
We do know that the Steam Machine will be sporting an AMD Zen 4 6C / 12T (up to 4.8 GHz, 30W TDP), a semi-custom AMD RDNA3 28CUs (2.45GHz max sustained clock, 110W TDP), along with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM. There will also be two models in terms of storage, being a 512 GB model and a 2 TB model. Both will also include options for additional storage via high-speed microSD cards. It will support ray tracing and 4K 120 FPS gaming via HDMI, or 4K 240 FPS or 8K 60 FPS gaming via DisplayPort.
Valve has stated the Steam Machine will be approximately ‘six times more powerful than the Steam Deck’, while the Steam marketplace will include information to indicate what will run on, or is optimised for, the Steam Machine. Australia has been listed as one of the countries in which all three products can be shipped, and additional information can be found on the official Steam Machine page.
Steam Frame
While we don’t know as much about the Steam Frame, we do know it will be powered by a Snapdragon 8 Series processor with 16GB of RAM and will work as a standalone unit with certain local and streaming abilities.
It will also run SteamOS, and users will also be able to keep track of compatible Steam Frame titles, in both a VR and non-VR capacity. You can find additional information via the official Steam Frame page.
Steam Controller
The Steam Controller will feature similar touchpads on the bottom of the controller as seen on the Steam Deck, along with other premium features like HD Rumble and magnetic thumbsticks.
There’s also a new feature called Grip Sense, which effectively grants users gyroscopic controls along with capacitive touch, thanks to two slim vertical pads found on each of the grips around the back of the controller.
The Steam Controller is also fully customisable when used with Steam Input. It will also work on anything running Steam, including the Steam Deck, Steam Machine and Steam Frame. You can find additional information via the official Steam Controller page.
At the time of writing, we don’t have an official release date or pricing for any of these products. Stay tuned for more news as it breaks.
Featured header image provided by Valve.
