After a lot of online speculation and leaks, Valve has officially announced the long-rumored Steam console. This follows leaked images that popped up before the official reveal on Wednesday.
On November 12, Valve revealed three new pieces of video game hardware: Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Frame, which is a new VR headset. The company didn’t reveal any prices, but did confirm a 2026 release date. According to Valve, the new Steam Machine has six times the “horsepower” of the Steam Deck and can play nearly all of the games in your Steam library.
Valve told PC Gamer it is aiming for all games on Steam to be playable at 4k60 using upscaling tech. It also comes with a cute LED strip that can be used for various functions, including letting you know a game has been installed or updated.
The Steam Machine is small, too. Valve claims it can be hidden under a banana. And while it’s obviously not actually going to be hiding under the yellow fruit that monkeys love, it’s shockingly small for something that boasts so much power. Valve says it’s roughly a 6-inch cube, or about 160mm. Tiny! Valve told IGN that the Steam Machine will come in two flavors: A 512 GB model and a 2TB model. You’ll be able to buy it separately or bundled with a Steam Controller.
The new Steam Controller can wirelessly sync up to the new Steam Machine easily, but it can also be used with any PC via an included puck that also acts as the controller’s charger. The new gamepad features advanced thumbsticks, “high definition rumble,” touch pads, motion controls, and built-in grip buttons. The idea is that this thing should be able to play most games you throw at it, including strategy games and shooters. Like the Steam Machine, it’s set to arrive sometime in 2026.
Also announced on Wednesday was the Steam Frame, Valve’s new virtual reality headset. Unlike the Valve Index from a few years back, the Frame is a self-contained VR headset like Meta’s Quest 2. It runs SteamOS and can play many of your favorite VR games natively without hooking up to a PC. However, the advanced headset, which uses inside-out tracking and no longer requires sensors set up around your room, can also be plugged into a PC or connected wirelessly to a Steam Machine to play even more powerful games and experiences. And you guessed it, this is also arriving in 2026.
“We’ve been super happy with the success of Steam Deck,” said Gabe Newell, President of Valve, “and PC gamers have continued asking for even more ways to play all the great titles in their Steam libraries. Our work over the years on other hardware and even more importantly on SteamOS has enabled Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame to do just that.”
