Valve is 'hard at work' on Steam Deck 2, but Steam Machine and Steam Frame are held hostage by AI gold rush

Steam Deck OLED — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Steam Controller is here, but the Steam Machine and Steam Frame have been delayed due to the ongoing RAM price crisis. However, Valve Programmer Pierre-Loup Griffais spoke to IGN and confirmed that while there isn’t an exact launch timeline, “things are going well” and we can expect news “soon.”

But his comments looked further into the future too, as he confirmed that the company is “hard at work” on Steam Deck 2 — echoing a lot of what Griffais told me in terms of wanting to see a “worthwhile performance upgrade to make sense.”

RAM is the pain point

Valve Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller devices — (Image credit: Valve)

It’s the most obvious answer, right? And Valve confirmed as much in its blog post about having to “revisit” when it will ship and how much it will cost. And Valve hardware engineer Steve Cardinali said as much in his time talking to Polygon — the hardware’s not the problem, but the RAM inside it is.

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“This doesn't have RAM in it, and it's not as complicated to start getting out the door for us,” Cardinali said. “We're ready for it. We wanted to build up quantity so that we could try to address everybody who wants one at launch, but it's possible that the demand for it far exceeds our expectations.”

It’s another of the many memory-related struggles the consumer tech industry has faced ever since the massive AI data center buildout spiked the cost, including the PS5 price hike recently.

However, there are some reasons to be optimistic about the near future (tariff refunds, Chinese RAM foundries picking up the consumer slack, etc), and all eyes are on Microsoft, Google and Amazon’s investors’ calls tomorrow to see whether there are any signs of a bubble pop.

We’ve just got to wait and see.

Predicting the launches

Valve Steam Machine — (Image credit: Valve)

So while Valve has (understandably) not confirmed a timeline given everything that’s happening, it's time for me to put on my tin foil hat and lay out some predictions of my own. And it made me think about MediaTek’s comments about having “cautious optimism” about a “slowdown” in RAM price rises.

In case you missed it, MediaTek’s Head of Global Sales Eric Fischer talked about how the huge initial demand for memory-heavy products early this year is probably an illusion of people panic buying before it gets worse. He said that we’re on our way to a moment where “the consumer’s ability to spend” breaks, and the industry will adjust in the second half of the year.

With that in mind, allow me to paint a timeline for you:

Steam Machine and Steam Frame: It’s clear Valve is working hard behind the scenes to figure out RAM supply and the pricing strategy for this. I know the company said to expect news “soon,” but as for a launch, I’d look more to maybe Summer/early Fall 2026. The company’s waiting this spike out, just like we are.
Steam Deck 2: For the worthwhile gains Valve is looking for in silicon performance and power efficiency, we need to look at this as more of a console generational leap more than the iterative curve of annual computing chip versions. I’m expecting an early 2028 launch.

But what do you think? I’ll throw up a poll to get your thoughts on when you think these devices will land!

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