Valve nonetheless hasn’t revealed the complete breakdown of what’s inside its new Steam Machine console or how a lot it’s going to value. These particulars had been delayed alongside with the device’s “early” 2026 launch resulting from an AI-fueled PC half scarcity. However the firm did supply a recent clue about how the mini-computer will carry out, and it nearly sounds too good to be true.
“In our testing the majority of Steam titles play great at 4K 60FPS with FSR on Steam Machine,” the corporate wrote in a new update on February 4. “That said, there are some titles that currently require more upscaling than others, and it may be preferable to play at a lower framerate with VRR to maintain a 1080p internal resolution. In the meantime, we are working on HDMI VRR, investigating improved upscaling, and optimizing ray tracing performance in the driver, so we are approaching this from multiple angles.”
Steam customers are…skeptical. “I don’t see how that’s possible on many, if not most current AAA games,” wrote one commenter. “The hardware just isn’t there. Isn’t this supposed to be a 3050 or lower class device?” One other wrote, “I don’t think the hardware is capable of delivering this promise. I have a 12 GB 3060. Which, presumably, is a significantly more powerful GPU than the one being offered. But it’s a still a lower-end GPU and I’m not playing any AAA games at 4K.”
It’s hard to know what exactly that means since hundreds of latest video games come to Steam yearly and most of them are small indie video games that aren’t very demanding to run. The Steam Machine would possibly run Hole Knight: Silksong and Slay the Spire 2 at 4K 60FPS no downside, however what about Resident Evil Requiem and Crimson Desert, each AAA blockbusters coming to Valve’s storefront over the subsequent couple of months? To not point out the entire video games that launched final 12 months with PC efficiency points like Monster Hunter Wilds and Borderlands 4.
If the Steam Machine can pull off 4K 60FPS for even a few of these large video games with out an excessive amount of body era or upscaling, it could have rather a lot to supply not simply console gamers however individuals coming from lower-end or very dated PC gaming rigs. However it additionally in all probability received’t come low cost. Then once more, on this new world the place gaming gets more expensive every year, who’s to say what even nonetheless counts as “cheap.”
