Engineers at Valve have voiced concerns that the ongoing memory crisis, largely attributed to the surging demand from the artificial intelligence industry, is continuing to worsen. This situation is directly impacting the production and pricing of gaming hardware like the Steam Deck and the recently launched Steam Machine.
Yazan Aldehayyat and Pierre-Loup Griffais, engineers involved with the Steam Machine's development, shared their perspective in an interview, noting that current retail stock lags behind bulk supply by three to six months. Aldehayyat stated, "Honestly, it’s still getting worse." The Steam Machine, which launched with a starting price of $1,049 for its 512GB model and reaches $1,428 for a 2TB configuration bundled with a Steam Controller, has been particularly affected.
Valve anticipated some sourcing challenges when the Steam Machine was announced in November 2025, but the current extent of the issue has surpassed their expectations. Griffais indicated that the company has been "limited by memory capacity, for sure," and that Valve has been "building everything we can get our hands on."
The memory shortage is not unique to Valve. Other industry leaders have also sounded the alarm. Micron's CEO, Sanjay Mehrotra, has predicted the RAM shortage will persist through 2027. Similarly, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney warned in late 2025 that high-end PC gamers could face elevated prices for several years. As Sony and Microsoft approach the release of their next-generation consoles, the pressure on component availability and pricing intensifies.