Valve answers Steam Hardware launch questions, confirms upgradeable Steam Machine and “foveated streaming” on Steam Frame
Valve has published a new FAQ post on the Steam Hardware Blog to address common questions around three recently announced products: Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame. The post focuses on feature basics, upgrade paths, and what support will look like for older hardware.
The release date has not changed, but the price is not set yet
Valve says the release window has not changed, and the company is still aiming to ship Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame in the first half of the year. Pricing is the part that remains unsettled, because memory and storage shortages have driven up component costs and forced Valve to revisit what it can confidently announce.
When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now. But the memory and storage shortages you’ve likely heard about across the industry have rapidly increased since then. The limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing (especially around Steam Machine and Steam Frame).
Our goal of shipping all three products in the first half of the year has not changed. But we have work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates that we can confidently announce, being mindful of how quickly the circumstances around both of those things can change. We will keep you updated as much as we can as we finalize those plans as soon as possible.
— Valve
I guess it is safe to assume they are launching this half of the year, but the big question is pricing and whether Valve would consider releasing Steam Machine as an optional barebone system. While access to cheap memory may be a problem, I’m sure many users would already have storage. Valve hardware users are for sure capable of installing their own SteamOS.
Steam Machine: 4K targets, VRR work in progress, user-upgradeable parts
Valve says internal testing shows most Steam titles running at 4K 60 FPS with FSR on Steam Machine. Some games need heavier upscaling. Valve says playing at a lower frame rate with VRR may be preferable in those cases, in order to keep a 1080p internal render resolution.
Valve lists several active work items: HDMI VRR support, improved upscaling, and driver-side ray tracing optimizations. Hardware customization is also part of the plan, with faceplate CAD and specs expected to be shared in the coming months for third-party manufacturing.
For upgrades, Valve confirms two user-accessible parts: the SSD (NVMe 2230 or 2280) and memory (DDR5 SODIMMs).
Source: Valve
Steam Frame: streaming focus, VR extras left to the community
Steam Frame is positioned around game streaming with a built-in browser that should run video services in a “theatrical” browser mode. Dev kits are available to Steamworks partners via the hardware request page, with limited supply and ongoing shipments.
Valve also says Steam Frame is not being built with Lighthouse base station support in mind. The company calls the headset modular and expects third parties and the community to handle accessories and add-ons. Glasses use is described as workable for many users, but frame width can be a limitation, and Valve is exploring prescription lens inserts ahead of launch.
There’s also a mention of “foveated streaming.” Valve separates it from foveated rendering. Foveated streaming uses eye tracking to prioritize higher-quality video where the user is looking, and it is described as a system-level feature that should apply across games without per-title developer work.
Steam Controller: usable beyond Steam games
Valve says Steam Controller can be used with non-Steam games, as long as the title works with the Steam Overlay.
Source: Valve
