In summary:
- PCWorld reports that Valve’s Steam Machine, a Linux-powered PC, faces delays until 2026 due to component procurement challenges and a RAM crisis.
- SteamOS 3.8.0 preview now includes initial support for the upcoming Steam Machine hardware, plus improved compatibility for Intel and AMD platforms and handheld devices.
- Valve has not announced pricing or confirmed a firm release date for the Steam Machine, leaving key details uncertain for potential buyers.
Valve’s Steam Machine might be the most anticipated gaming hardware this year… if it even comes this year. Amid the RAM crisis, the console-ish Linux-powered PC has been delayed, and Valve can only hope to get it out sometime in 2026. But on the software side, SteamOS is preparing to support the upcoming hardware.
That’s according to the newest preview release of SteamOS, version 3.8.0. “Initial support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware” is right there at the top of the list of changes, above more pedestrian tweaks and improvements. This is the Linux-based SteamOS—not the Steam desktop program you’re probably more familiar with—so it only makes sense that it would need a lot of prep work before a hardware launch.
Other changes include updated Steam Deck BIOS builds and “improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms,” as well as various support improvements for other handheld devices from Lenovo, Asus, OneXPlayer, GPD, and Anbernic. Exactly how many of these will make it out of preview and to the full SteamOS release is, of course, dependant upon further testing and user feedback.
When making its announcement in 2025, Valve had intended to have a date and price by now. But with 32GB of RAM and an 8GB AMD-supplied GPU, at a time when both of those components are getting very difficult for manufacturers to procure as “AI” data centers gobble up all the supply, Valve has switched to a much broader launch window of “this year.” Pricing, which is the most crucial component of the Steam Machine’s success and its prospects of competing with consoles, remains a huge and unanswered question.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 15-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.