Steam Hardware Revolution: Valve Drops Steam Machine, Frame VR, and Controller Bombshells!

Valve just fired a new shot in the hardware wars with a triple-threat announcement of the long-rumored Steam Machine, the Steam Frame standalone VR headset, and a reinvented Steam Controller, all expected to launch in early 2026. Detailed on the freshly updated Steam Hardware page, this lineup positions Valve as a full-spectrum gaming powerhouse, challenging PlayStation, Xbox, Switch 2 and Meta with a Steam gaming ecosystem that now competes everywhere. We don't have prices yet but specs for the Steam Machine lean toward a value price. It's Steam OS in your living room, on your desktop, and even on your face; let's break it down.

Steam Machine: Deck's Big Brother for the Living Room

The announcement I am most excited about is the Steam Machine, a compact 6-inch cube reviving Valve's 2015 hybrid-PC experiment with another decade of experience and modern PC horsepower. Valve claims it is over 6x the power of Steam Deck, with a AMD Zen 4 CPU + RDNA3 GPU (28 CUs), 16GB RAM, and 512GB/2TB SSD options that can enable 4K/60fps gaming via FSR, with ray tracing support.

Just like the Steam Deck it runs SteamOS by default, but it is ultimately a PC so you can install other operating systems on it as well. On the design side, it sports customizable faceplates, and a cool LED lightbar across the front that can be customized to show download status or just put on a light show while you play. It looks like a great way to bring your entire Steam library to your Big Screen TV without needing to roll your own living-room PC, and I can't wait to get my hands on one.

Steam Frame: Standalone VR Without the Wires

Next up is the Steam Frame, Valve's Quest 3 rival. It's a standalone MR/VR headset with camera-based tracking (meaning no base station requirement), dual 2160x2160@120Hz LCDs with eye-tracking and new VR controllers that will allow you to interact with your VR games and apps. It can stream games from your PC, but it also allows you to run games directly from the headset with no PC at all. And this applies to your entire Steam Library, not just VR titles. Non Virtual Reality games will display in a large virtual display, so you can have a big screen experience anywhere. Very cool stuff.

Steam Controller 2.0: Deck DNA in a Versatile Pad

Valve also announced a revamped Steam Controller that borrows the Deck's trackpads grip design and gyro. It also adds a 35+ hour battery, and a bespoke low-latency wireless connection thanks to a controller dongle. It also has four programmable grips and haptic feedback and will work with all of Valve's hardware, the Deck, Steam Machine, Frame, and PC. It looks like a Steam Deck with the screen ripped out, and should be a great addition to the lineup.

Valve Enters the Fight

While we still haven't seen anything about Half-Life 3, this was a great announcement from Valve, and it puts them in a great position to compete in the hardware wars. This is basically the approach that Microsoft is trying to get to with the next-gen Xbox and the recently released Xbox handhelds, but Valve is going to beat them to the punch.

Just when we thought the console wars might be ending, Valve steps in and fires a shot across the bow of every hardware maker. We'll have to see how well it all works, but what they showed today is very exciting, and we love to see more choices available for players and developers.

What do you think about Valve's announcements? Let us know over on X, and keep it locked here for all the latest about the Steam Machines, and everything else gaming.