Valve, the company behind PC gaming platform Steam, has revealed a new console to rival Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation.
The Steam Machine is a home console designed to allow gamers to play PC games on their TV – though it can also be used as a computer.
It is a spiritual sequel to the 2014 device of the same name, which failed to break into a market dominated by the three big gaming giants.
Prices for those consoles, back then, started at $499 (£300) – but Valve’s latest iteration is expected to cost a good deal more.
The Steam Machine will go on sale in early 2026, the company said, with the pricing yet to be announced.
The company says this and more details will be provided closer to the exact release date, which is also currently unknown.
Since Valve launched Steam in 2003, it has grown to become the world’s largest distribution platform for PC gaming.
Around 25 million Steam players were online and six million were playing games at the time of writing, according to the platform’s own metrics.
But whether its new hardware can match Steam’s success will remain to be seen when the devices launch next year.
Analysts previously cast doubt on the Steam Machine’s significance when it launched in its original, clunkier form a decade ago – saying its price-tag and potential might only really entice Steam “power users”.
In a video announcement, Valve described the new console as “a powerful gaming PC in a small but mighty package”.
The firm argues the device is “optimised for gaming” over other PCs because the firm is able to say which games on its massive digital storefront will work on it before you buy.
Powered by its Linux-based SteamOS operating system and AMD graphics processors, Valve said the new Steam Machine can support 4k resolution and 60 frames per second.
But industry expert Christopher Dring said its potential and appeal may be limited, comparing it to the firm’s handheld Steam Deck console which has a “lucrative but niche” audience of “around four to five million players”.
“Most of those people were already Steam customers looking to take their PC games on-the-go,” he said.
“My feeling is the Steam Machine will be similar – this will mostly appeal to a lucrative enthusiast audience of existing Steam players who want to play their games in a living room setting.”.
In an unusual move, Valve has also announced further hardware – its Steam Frame virtual reality (VR) headset.
The device is entirely wireless – and it described it as a “streaming-first” device – but it is also itself a PC running SteamOS.
And it also claims to be bringing a technical leap forward in the VR space, with the headset displaying highest-quality graphics only in the bits of the screen a user is looks at.
With the sweeping new device announcements, Valve hopes to rival its more established competitors.
In recent years, Microsoft-owned Xbox has placed its subscription service Game Pass at the heart of its offering for gamers – some say at the expense of its console crown.
Meanwhile the PS5 has been the best-selling console for some time, but fans have been left asking when its successor will appear on the market.
Brandon Sutton, games industry analyst at Midia research, said the announcements showed Valve’s “strong grasp of where the gaming market is headed and what gamers want”.
“With Sony and Microsoft moving away from console exclusives, and the prevalence of games streaming services, it has never been a better time for a PC-Console hybrid,” he told the BBC.
