Valve denies subsidy and Steam Machine will have the same performance as PCs at the same price

Valve confirmed that it will not subsidize the hardware of the Steam Machine, distancing itself from the model of console manufacturers that absorb large losses per unit sold. The company suggested that the final price of the device will be equivalent to that of a assembled PC with the same level of performance.

In an interview with Skill Up, Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais from Valve discussed the pricing policy. Griffais, a software engineer, stated that the Steam Machine is "more powerful than 70% of gaming PCs that Valve registers in its own hardware survey, in terms of overall GPU level."

The engineer advised fans to expect a price close to that of an assembled PC using parts that offer "basically the same level of performance." "I think if you build a PC from parts and get basically the same level of performance, that is the general price range we aim to achieve," said Griffais.

Griffais was categorical in ruling out subsidies: "No. It is more in line with what you could expect from the current PC market." He defended the price by pointing out the unique features of the Steam Machine that would be difficult to replicate in a PC assembled from scratch, such as the "small form factor," the "noise level that we achieve - or the lack of it - is really impressive," and integration features like HDMI CEC, which allows controlling the TV with the remote.

Valve aims for the Steam Machine to be a "good basic offer," but will make the SteamOS available to third parties who want to build their PCs and essentially have the same experience. Designer Yang added a personal benefit: "for me, one of the benefits of the Steam Machine is that I used to build my PC in college and now I am too old and tired to do that!"

In contrast to Valve's position, Michael Douse, the publishing director of Larian Studios, suggested on social media that Valve will lose "much more" by not subsidizing the device, missing out on more users in the Steam store, which he described as "essentially a money printing machine." "That being said, it's not stupid to not sell things at a loss, just peculiar in this case," Douse concluded.

Speculation about the price increased recently after Linus Sebastian from Linus Tech Tips suggested that the Steam Machine would not follow the "console price model." Additionally, a former Xbox executive had asked Valve to allow third parties to use the SteamOS to manufacture their own Steam Machines, amid concerns about the potential price of the living room PC.