Last updated on May 4, 2026
Valve is shipping a controller before it ships a console, and the reason is almost poetically simple. The Steam Controller goes on sale today, May 4, 2026, at $99. The Steam Machine is still stuck waiting. No firm date, no confirmed price. Just “coming in 2026.”
So what happened?
It Does Not Have RAM in It
That is the actual explanation, almost word for word, from Valve hardware engineer Steve Cardinali in an interview with Polygon.
“This doesn’t have RAM in it, and it’s not as complicated to start getting out the door for us,” Cardinali said. A controller has no memory, no storage, no chips that are currently being fought over by every AI data centre on the planet. So Valve can make it, stock it, and ship it.
The Steam Machine cannot say the same. DRAM contract prices have climbed more than 170% year over year, with much of the demand tied to AI data centre buildouts. Valve is caught in the same shortage as everyone else.
Valve Always Planned This
One thing Cardinali was clear about: holding the controller back to launch alongside the Machine was never the plan.
“From the beginning, these were all different products. We had always thought, obviously we want them to work together well, especially the Steam Machine and the Steam Controller, they’re in a lot of ways a pair made in heaven, but we saw no need to ship the Controller at the same time as the Machine.”
Lawrence Yang echoed this. “There was no real desire or need to artificially make them ship simultaneously because then that would just push everything else out,” he said. The controller was ready. Waiting would have been pointless.
What the Steam Machine Is Up Against
Yang did not hold back when describing the situation: “I mean, obviously we’re bummed that this is the state of things. RAM shortages, memory shortages, price hikes, everything. It’s unavoidable that it will impact basically anything we make that has any of those parts in them.”
Valve had originally planned to announce Steam Machine pricing and a launch window earlier this year. That did not happen. The company now says all three products, the Controller, the Machine, and the Steam Frame VR headset, remain on track for 2026. The controller is the only one with an actual date.
Pierre-Loup Griffais, SteamOS developer at Valve, told IGN that the Machine’s release is “close” and that the remaining challenge is purely logistical. The hardware, he said, is done. He described the experience as similar to a docked Steam Deck with significantly more GPU horsepower, which tracks with the Machine’s specs: a custom RDNA3 GPU with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, a Zen 4 processor clocked up to 4.8GHz, and 16GB of RAM.
Valve is not alone in this. Xbox’s CEO has confirmed the same shortage will impact Project Helix pricing. This is an industry-wide problem, not a Valve-specific stumble.
What You Get for $99
The Steam Controller is a second-generation gamepad built heavily around the Steam Deck’s layout. It replicates the dual trackpad design, uses magnetic TMR thumbsticks instead of the Deck’s potentiometer sticks, and includes GripSense. The Puck wireless dongle is included in the box.
The controller goes on sale at 10 AM Pacific time across the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. No pre-purchases are available.
Valve built up inventory specifically for this launch. Cardinali warned that demand could still outrun supply, so if you want one on day one, early is safer than late.
The Steam Machine will come when it comes. Until then, at least the controller is here.
I’m passionate about books and video games. These two great passions represent, for me, a boundless universe where I can “escape” from reality whenever I need or want to. There are so many stories, worlds, and landscapes where I can instantly teleport that I don’t think a whole lifetime would be enough to explore them all (though it would be my greatest dream to be able to).
