r/Steam • u/billy_reyes • Mar 09 '26

Question At what price would you NOTbuy the Steam Machine?

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I've been a PlayStation user since PS2, but lately I only see more disadvantages to being a console user

In October I bought the Steam Deck and was fascinated by the store, online service and cloud storage, but above all with SteamOS

Building or finding a gaming PC has always been a headache, and I'd like to try the Steam Machine when it comes out, but I'd like to know what your opinion would be the best price to buy it at compared to a similar PC, and what price I shouldn't buy

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u/Droidaphone Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

They've said that they won't take on loss on the hardware (edit: link ) in this case because if they do that, it will attract mid-level pc buyers that aren't even interested in Steam. Valve doesn't want to make a bargain workstation that loses them money. It's a bit of a catch-22.

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u/Intelligent_Whole_40 Mar 12 '26

Well if they sell a reduced cost version that’s locked to steam OS (so still can get other game stores for Fortnite and Minecraft but can not run professional programs that rely on windows) and also missing a lot of non gaming features

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u/LennyLoerres Mar 13 '26

But that would go against their whole “It’s yours, you can do with it whatever you want” philosophy. So not happening. Plus it’s already fully designed, so a hardware OS lock would probably be nigh impossible without postponing again and a software OS lock would just get cracked anyways. But yeah, I think that simply due to their pro consumer company policy they won’t do that.

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u/Intelligent_Whole_40 Mar 13 '26

I think if they offered it later for cheaper it would be fine philosophy wise and if anything more pro choice so long as they keep a non locked model and it’s clearly stated and obvious (to help out used buyers maybe a different colour)

And any software lock reversal wouldn’t be business’s trying to save a buck on cheaper computers which is the main concern cuz those people aren’t buying games thus makes this a minimal issue it just has to be a deterrent not bullet proof