Valve Denies Delay Rumours: Steam Machine, Frame, and Controller Still on Track for 2026
TL;DR: After a vaguely worded 2025 year-in-review post sparked rumours of a delay to 2027, Valve confirmed that its upcoming hardware lineup will definitely ship this year. The company is dealing with industry-wide RAM and storage shortages driven by heavy AI demand, but remains committed to its 2026 window.
Fans eagerly awaiting Valve’s next wave of gaming hardware can breathe a sigh of relief. Following a brief period of confusion sparked by the company’s 2025 year-in-review post, Valve has clarified that its new trio of devices, the Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller, are all still on track to launch before the end of 2026.
The panic began when Valve published a post stating they “hope to ship in 2026, but as we shared recently, memory and storage shortages have created challenges.” For many fans, this wording felt like a quiet downgrade from previous commitments, sparking fears of a hardware delay into 2027.
However, Valve was quick to correct the record. Kaci Aitchison Boyle, a communications lead for Valve, told The Verge that “nothing has really changed on our end.” Following this statement, Valve promptly updated the language in its blog post to offer a much firmer commitment, stating: “We shared recently that there have been challenges with memory and storage shortages, but we will be shipping all three products this year. More updates will be shared as we finalise our plans.”
The upcoming lineup marks a massive push into hardware for Valve. The Steam Machine is a revival of its console-PC hybrid idea from the early 2010s, designed as a compact living room gaming PC. Valve claims it will play the majority of Steam titles at 4K 60 fps with the help of FSR upscaling. Alongside it, the company is releasing the Steam Frame, a wireless VR headset set to compete directly with Meta’s offerings, and a revised Steam Controller featuring a more Steam Deck-adjacent design.
The underlying cause for the general uncertainty is a massive global memory shortage. Driven heavily by the data centre demands of artificial intelligence, this “RAMpocalypse” is forcing hardware makers of all sizes to navigate severe supply chain crunches. While gamers will have to wait for exact release dates and pricing details to be finalised, they can rest assured that Valve’s next-generation hardware will see the light of day this year.
