Valve is returning to the living room with a compact box that aims to be your gaming PC and your console in one.
It’s positioned as an early 2026 launch alongside a fresh first-party controller and a new VR headset called Steam Frame.
Inside, the new Steam Machine is built around a semi-custom six-core AMD chip with 16GB of memory, 8GB of dedicated VRAM, and either 512GB or 2TB of NVMe storage.
Performance lands around six Steam Decks’ worth of grunt, which is enough to target 4K at 60 frames per second with help from AMD FSR. All of that fits inside a small black cube that the internet has already nicknamed the GabeCube.
SteamOS comes preinstalled, and you are free to put your own operating system on it if you prefer. The design has some fun touches like a customisable face plate and an LED strip that can show download progress of games, for example, while the TV is off.
Advertisement
On the connectivity front, it’s closer to a small gaming PC, with Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a microSD slot, one USB-C, four USB-A, DisplayPort 1.4, and HDMI 2.0. And it is capable of pushing up to 4K at 120 Hz with HDR and variable refresh rate support.
There’s a new controller, too
The new Steam Controller pairs wirelessly and builds on the original idea. You still get two large touchpads, now sitting beneath full-size sticks that use magnetic TMR sensors to avoid drift, plus capacitive tricks that let the pads double as motion inputs.
You also get triggers, bumpers, four rear buttons, and a proper D-pad to complete the control layout. Charging is handled by a magnetic puck, while the bundled transmitter takes care of wireless duties.
Steam Frame steps in as the follow-up to the Index, this time as a smaller standalone headset with inside-out tracking that can also stream from a PC or Steam Machine.
It uses pancake lenses in front of dual 2160 x 2160 LCD panels with refresh rates up to 144 Hz, eye tracking for foveated rendering, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB or 1TB of storage plus microSD.
Advertisement
Valve plans to ship all three in early 2026 in regions where the Steam Deck is sold. And pricing is still to come.
