Is the Steam Machine worth the wait?

What It Covers

The Verge's Sean Hollister reviews Valve's Steam Machine, a $1,049 living room PC gaming console roughly matching PlayStation 5 performance. The episode covers hardware specs, out-of-box experience, the Proton compatibility layer that runs Windows games on Linux, and whether the device justifies its price for different buyer types.

Key Questions Answered

• •Proton compatibility layer: The Steam Machine runs Windows games on Linux through Proton without requiring developers to modify their titles. This solves the fatal flaw of the original 2012–2015 Steam Machine, which failed because it demanded developers build native Linux games. Buyers access decades of existing Steam libraries without repurchasing titles or waiting for ports.
• •Hardware performance benchmark: The Steam Machine uses a six-core AMD Zen 4 processor with an RDNA 3 GPU and 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, performing comparably to a PS5 at 12-foot couch distances. Internally it renders at roughly 1080p and upscales to 4K. Ray tracing performance is weak, and VRAM-heavy titles like Indiana Jones and Alan Wake 2 stress the ceiling.
• •Dual-use PC value calculation: Buyers who connect monitors, keyboards, and peripherals can run the Steam Machine as a full Linux desktop workstation. Hollister replaced his Windows PC entirely during testing. For buyers who would otherwise purchase both a gaming console and a separate PC, the $1,049 price becomes more defensible as a single-device solution.
• •SteamOS ecosystem expansion: Valve now permits SteamOS installation on AMD GPU-equipped desktop PCs, with partial Intel GPU support and no NVIDIA support yet. Third-party manufacturers require a formal technical partnership with Valve to ship preloaded SteamOS devices. Lenovo is the only confirmed partner, with the Legion Go 2 running SteamOS delayed due to component pricing pressures.
• •Early-access adoption timeline: The original Steam Deck shipped with significant bugs and became broadly recommendable within one year through consistent software updates. Valve continues updating legacy hardware, adding hibernation to the original Steam Deck LCD years post-launch. Buyers treating the Steam Machine as early access should expect a similar 6–12 month maturation window before a polished console-like experience.