“Honestly, it’s still getting worse” - Valve Steam Machine engineer says component prices are still rising, potentially paving the way for a price increase
Valve engineers have revealed that the ongoing memory and component shortage continues to worsen, potentially forcing further price increases for the Steam Machine and other consumer hardware. In an interview with Bloomberg, engineers Yazan Aldehayyat and Pierre-Loup Griffais confirmed that sourcing memory and storage components remains critically constrained.
The Steam Machine, which launched at a minimum price of £879 ($1,049)—already substantially higher than Valve’s original target—is being directly impacted by skyrocketing component costs. “Honestly, it’s still getting worse,” Aldehayyat stated, emphasizing that the situation has not improved since the console’s release.
Valve engineers acknowledged they underestimated the severity of the shortage, with Griffais noting that while they anticipated sourcing challenges, “the extent was beyond anything we actually expected.” The shortage stems partly from the artificial intelligence industry’s massive demand for data center memory, which has diverted supply away from consumer electronics manufacturing.
The supply chain remains severely constrained, with retail shelves currently reflecting component availability from three to six months prior. This lag means consumers are only now seeing the impact of previous shortages, while manufacturers face even more severe constraints at the bulk supply level. Valve is operating at maximum capacity, building “everything we can get our hands on,” but remains fundamentally limited by memory availability.
Without a resolution to the underlying supply constraints, consumers should not expect Steam Machine prices to decrease in the near future. The situation underscores broader challenges facing the hardware industry as demand from AI infrastructure competes directly with gaming and consumer electronics manufacturers for limited semiconductor supplies.
Sources
- “Honestly, it’s still getting worse” - Valve Steam Machine engineer says component prices are still rising, potentially paving the way for a price increase
- Valve suggests memory crisis is “still getting worse,” admitting, “we’re limited by memory capacity, for sure”
- Valve see the great RAM shortage “getting worse,” just in case you were clinging to hopes of a cheaper Steam Machine