Following the disappointing launch of the Steam Controller, which saw units sell out almost immediately, only to end up in the hands of scalpers, Valve introduced a reservation queue to prevent a repeat of the situation. As spotted in the same Steam update that introduced the system for the new controller, a similar safeguard will be in place for both the Steam Machine and the Steam Frame.
Users analyzing the system via Steam Tracker have discovered code for four Steam Machine packages and two Steam Frame packages alongside the Steam Controller and Steam Deck entries. This heavily suggests that the reservation queue system will be implemented at launch for the rest of Valve’s new hardware arriving this year.
The presence of four different Steam Machine packages indicates that multiple models will be available at launch. While two are already known – the 512 GB and 2 TB storage models – the nature of the other two remains unconfirmed. Given the recent launch of the Steam Controller, these additional packages could be bundles including the controller.
However, a 1 TB configuration may not be out of the question to offer a more affordable middle ground for those wanting more storage than the 512 GB of the base model, which has quickly become limited due to the soaring file sizes of current-generation games.
While the reservation system should hinder scalpers, the biggest mystery remains the Steam Machine’s price. The system was announced right before the cost of components like RAM and SSDs began to soar, which has reportedly impacted Valve’s plans for a device that former Xbox executive Mike Ybarra sees as the only real challenge to PlayStation’s dominance.
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