It's been over seven months since Valve announced the Steam Machine and every single leak and educated guess in relation to its cost can now be confirmed to have been wrong, since the base system will come in at a rather steep US$1,049. At this point we all knew it was going to cost more than an Xbox Series X or a PlayStation 5, despite the consoles having increased in price these past few months, but that's not even the worst of it. The base spec Steam Machine is in many ways worse than those consoles, as it only includes 512 GB of local storage and the 2 TB model will set you back US$1,349, a price difference which is higher than what a mid-range 2 TB NVMe SSD costs in retail. If you live in the Euro area, you're looking at €1,039 for the base model and €1,359 for the 2 TB SKU.

Valve is also offering bundles with the Steam Controller, which starts at US$1,228/€1,108 when bundles with the 512 GB Steam Machine and if you want the 2 TB version with a controller, then you're looking at US$1,428/€1,428. It's not as if you can get a Steam Machine today either, as you have to sign up to a list before the 25th of June for a chance to get your hands on a Steam Machine. Yes, you read that correctly, a chance, since Valve in its wisdom decided to randomise the email addresses of those that signed up, so it's pot luck if you'll get a chance to get your hands on one of the first Steam Machines. Valve claims they did this to be fair to everyone and that it's a system that causes less frustration, but we're not sure that's how people will feel about it at the end of the day. On the other hand, scalpers will at least not be buying up all the units to then resell them at higher prices online. On top of that, you need to have a Steam account in good standing, having made at least one purchase on Steam prior to the 27th of April this year and of course, every household is limited to on Steam Machine. If you miss to sign up before the deadline, you will be added to the end of the randomised list, which does at least seem pretty fair. Oh and there's no changes once you've signed up.

See below for pricing in other countries.

• Steam Machine 512 GB: $1,049 USD / 1,509 CAD / 1,039 EUR / 879 GBP / 1,609 AUD / 4,389 PLN
• Bundle: Steam Machine 512 GB + Steam Controller: $1,128 USD / 1,628 CAD / 1,108 EUR / 938 GBP / 1,728 AUD / 4,698 PLN
• Steam Machine 2 TB: $1,349 USD / 1,919 CAD / 1,359 EUR / 1,149 GBP / 2,109 AUD / 5,739 PLN
• Bundle: Steam Machine 2 TB + Steam Controller: $1,428 USD / 2,038 CAD / 1,428 EUR / 1,208 GBP / 2,228 AUD / 6,048 PLN

Both the Steam Machine 2 TB and 2 TB bundle options come with two additional faceplates: red fabric, and solid walnut.

Note that Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong will have purchase their Steam Machines through the retail channel and Valve will not be shipping any units to South Korea for the time being.