"We're just as impacted as everyone else": Valve explain Steam Machine delays and why the Steam Controller is coming out sooner

"We’re obviously not thrilled about where things are at"

Ahead of the new Steam Controller release on May 4th, and shortly after I finished reviewing it (it’s good!), I sat down with Valve engineer Steve Cardinali and designer Lawrence Yang to discuss the Controller, the industry-upending RAM shortage it’s launching into, and delays to the Steam Machine that said disruption has caused.

While no new Steam Machine pricing or release date specifics slipped from any errant lips, both Cardinali and Yang spelled out what previous Steam statements have always inferred: that even a company of Valve’s standing (and wealth) can’t get around the lack of vital components, nor the associated explosion in costs, that hardware manufacturers are facing worldwide. That doesn’t mean they’ve been hoarding RAMless Steam Controllers, though.

"Because it’s ready," Yang replies to my question about why Valve are choosing now to release the new Controller. "I think one of the things we wanted to share with folks is just to dispel any rumors that we were intentionally holding back the Steam Controller in order to ship with other hardware, or for any other reason like that. We're shipping it now because it's ready. That's how long it took to get the hardware and the firmware software ready, as well as to get enough quantity into warehouses so that we have a really good launch quantity when we ship."

Was the Steam Controller, which doesn’t need the most in-demand components, not affected by the shortages at all? "Not so much the memory and storage issues that we're seeing in the general industry," Cardinali explains. "It's pretty resilient to that, because it doesn't have [those components], like you pointed out. But, y'know, there's other things going on that make it challenging to nail down supply, or nail down costs and certain things. But it is, for the most part, a lot easier of a chestnut than the other products."

"I think, suffice to say, we're just as impacted as everyone else is by the shortages and price hikes of all of these components," Yang adds. "We're doing what we can to overcome the challenges – that's about as much detail as we're giving right now."

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun

Or is it? Asked whether continued discourse (hi) around the Steam Machine and Steam Frame’s MIA status is a source of frustration, Yang notes that RAMnarök is an industry-wide issue – and that it’s the delays themselves that have been causing consternation.

"We’re obviously not thrilled about where things are at with the availability of these components. I think it is frustrating that, instead of being excited about getting ready to ship and launch these products, we're having to deal with how we can actually build them, and think about how they're impacted. I think... it's not even really a silver lining, but it's nice to know that we're not the only ones in this boat. Like, the entire industry is dealing with these same challenges, just like we are, so we're all just trying to figure out how we can navigate it."

You'll recall that the Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame were all revealed simultaneously last year, initially aiming for an also-concurrent launch early in 2026 before all three fell into TBC purgatory. Good on the Steam Controller for clawing out, though the idea that it’s releasing as soon as it’s ready also suggests that it’ll still be some time before the Machine and Frame can scramble enough stock for a proper launch. At least that’s slightly less miserable a thought than that of racks of finished SteamOS PCs gathering dust, merely waiting for the moment where Valve won’t need to charge a Gabe’s ransom to break even on them.