Valve Targeting Living Room Gaming with Steam Machine and Steam Frame

Steam Deck has ushered in portable PC gaming through the Steam ecosystem, allowing gamers to access their Steam library from nearly any location. You could see how Steam Deck was being used on other platforms and environments, which inspired Valve to take its hardware plans to the next level, beyond just gaming on the go.

Steam Hardware launches three new devices to bridge the gap between players and PC gaming via controllers, living room systems, and VR gear. Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame will all be released within mid 2026. The new Steam Controller was designed with players in mind, giving them the freedom to play Steam games wherever and however they want. The controller is designed to be used with games that weren't made for it, similar to the Steam Deck.

Steam Controller Brings Steam Input Features to More Devices

Trackpads, gyros, and back buttons are available on the controller in a new format. Next-generation magnetic thumbsticks for more responsiveness and durability were also added. Now the thumbsticks and the back of the controller have capacitive touch sensors, letting you aim as precisely as you can with your thumb (or even your pinky).

The battery life is over 35 hours with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. We also made charging and wireless pairing more convenient with a new accessory called the Puck. The Puck is a wireless adapter and magnetic charger that comes with each Steam Controller. It can be plugged in to charge the controller and unplugged to play wirelessly.

The controller is compatible with all devices running Steam or Steam Link, such as PCs, Macs, handhelds, smartphones, the Steam Deck, and the new Steam Machine, and supports both Bluetooth and wired connections.

Steam Machine Targets Living Room PC Gaming

Steam Machine is a small gaming PC designed for large-screen gaming. Valve said the system's performance is 6 times that of the Steam Deck and that it is silent in use. Its system features a dedicated semi-custom AMD GPU that can process 4K gaming frames at 60 fps, and with FSR enabled. Steam Machine is a SteamOS-based device designed for larger screens and can also be used to play games in living rooms, offices, or on existing desktop PCs with accessories.

Steam Deck's features will also be carried over to the Steam Machine, including quick sleep, quick wake, and a microSD port for expandable storage. In addition, Valve has introduced a modifiable LED strip, capable of showing system functions or user-defined lighting effects.

Steam Machine is a PC, so you can install other software and use your desktop or gaming peripherals as you please. Also, the system natively supports the Steam Controller with a built-in low-latency wireless connection with the Steam Controller Puck. Steam Machine also works on game streaming to the Steam Deck, Steam Frame, laptop, tablet, and phone.

Wireless SteamOS VR Hardware is brought to you by Steam Frame.

Steam Frame is Valve's new version 2 VR headset, focusing on wireless game streaming and on its own SteamOS support. This lightweight wireless headset provides streaming of VR and non-VR Steam games.

With camera-based tracking, you don't need any external sensors to start a game; simply wear the headset and turn it on! Among the Steam Frame controllers are motion controls, capacitive finger tracking, and a split-gamepad interface for playing VR and other Steam games.

The controllers also feature magnetic thumbsticks, similar to those of the new Steam Controller. Steam Frame's integration with the Steam Controller for non-VR gaming in the headset is seamless.

Valve has also added a wireless adapter that enables PC-to-headset streaming over Wi-Fi 6.

Optimized streamed image with eye tracking technology, which increases the resolution of the image where your eyes are. Steam Frame is also an independent PC running SteamOS. You don't need a host PC to install and play VR and non-VR games on the headset. MicroSD card slot for storage expansion.

Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame use the same hardware design as the Steam Deck. The devices were designed to work together and are compatible with a range of accessories and peripherals. The lineup is built around the growth of PC gaming on mobile devices, living room PCs, and VR, with SteamOS and Steam itself. All three products will be released in early 2026 via Steam Powered Hardware.