The Steam Machine was announced just over a week ago now, and while we don’t know how much the Steam Machine will cost, we also don’t know when it’s actually going to come out. Right now, the only official release date information points to a vague “Coming In 2026” message in the Steam store page.
When I was at Valve trying out the Steam Machine, the company narrowed things down a bit when it told me that the console-PC-hybrid would be launching in Q1 2026, but wouldn’t commit to a specific date. The good news is that either way, we won’t have to wait too long – after all Q1 2026 ends on March 31, so it’s going to be here sometime in the next few months. But can we narrow it down further?
The CES Equation
CES, or the Consumer Electronics Show, is happening from January 6-9, 2026. It’s a show where we generally see all the tech and hardware that’s going to be coming out in the first half of the year. And it’s very possible that the Steam Machine is going to be a major topic there – even if it’s indirect.
You see, I just re-checked the exhibitor list for the tech event and Valve is not going to show up. That’s not surprising, it’s not like Valve has a habit of attending the event in an official capacity. However, Valve representatives were there last year showing off the Lenovo Legion Go S running SteamOS. I don’t know if that’s going to happen again this year, but I do expect Valve could still make some noise at the show.
The Steam Machine is probably the biggest thing in gaming hardware right now, and Valve could capture a lot of attention by announcing the price or the release date during CES. This seems especially likely when you consider that this is a Q1 2026 product that doesn’t have a release date heading into Q1 2026. But, looking at how Valve handled the Steam Deck, it seems more likely that the company will let things cool down for a few weeks before making its announcement.
