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Seeing Valve break the $1,000 barrier inevitably leaves us asking whether the next generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft will follow suit. Microsoft teased its upcoming Project Helix earlier this year, although the console – which will also play PC games – doesn't currently have a release date. Sony, meanwhile, has been tight-lipped about a potential PlayStation 6, although some have suggested it might be pushed back to 2028 or even 2029 as a result of component shortages and price rises. Whenever they arrive, Van Dreunen expects the next generation of consoles to shoot past the $1,00

Van Dreunen says that he wasn't shocked at all to see Valve breaking the $1,000 barrier. "In fact, I predicted in March that we'd see the price of gaming consoles breach $1,000," he says. "If anything, I underestimated the speed: even in my most pessimistic February revision, I had the top SKU near $899, and the entry price alone cleared that. It's disappointing, certainly, because Valve prides itself on accessibility and fair pricing for consumers. But unless Valve is willing to heavily subsidize its upcoming device, it has to price in the runaway cost of memory and storage like everyone else

Piscatella is sure that the Steam Machine will immediately sell out at launch, even at a $1,000+ price point. "But the question is the available quantity, which I expect will be very limited." He expects it will remain tough to find a Steam Machine for some time. Van Dreunen thinks Valve's console will find its enthusiast core, "but it won't move console volumes at this number, and Valve can live with that," he says. "The Machine has always been a funnel into Steam, not a profit centre. More broadly, console and PC gaming are increasingly becoming a luxury category, catering to a shrinking set