Sounding off: Despite being sold out and appearing on eBay for as much as $3,000, the Steam Machine hasn't impressed a lot of people. One of those is Shuhei Yoshida, the former president of SIE Worldwide Studios at Sony and head of independent games at PlayStation. He described Valve's console as "meh" and asked if he was "going back to PS4 days?"
Yoshida is one of many people who bought a Steam Machine following its official launch, despite its high price. He posted an image of the device next to his TV, along with his thoughts after playing with it for a few hours. Most were far from positive.
Yoshida's first complaint was one that many reviewers have highlighted: the performance, which he described as "meh." He also took issue with the recommendation to default to 1080p, leading to his PS4 comparison.
– Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) July 2, 2026
Valve faced plenty of criticism for its original claim that the Steam Machine was capable of 4K gaming at 60 fps with FSR. For most games, that was only true when the graphics presets were dropped to their lowest settings, and some titles still couldn't achieve 4K/60fps. It's why Valve quietly changed the line to a more accurate "Up to 4K gaming with FSR 4.1" last week.
While he also complained about boot times and Steam Controller's loose sticks, Yoshida did have some good things to say about the Steam Machine. He praised the system UI being easy to use, being able to boot via the Steam controller, and changeable face plates.
Yoshida's conclusion was that the Steam Machine's ability to let him play Steam games in his living room made it worth keeping.
The caveat, however, was that the former PlayStation boss still finds it hard to recommend the Steam Machine because of its controversial $1,049 starting price. Again, that's something many reviewers concluded.
Even though most agree that the Steam Machine is underpowered and overpriced, it's still sold out. If, for some reason, you're desperate to get your hands on one, there are plenty on eBay going for two to three times what Valve is charging.
In related news, recent tests by Gamers Nexus found that Valve's use of a single stick of RAM in the Steam Machine can cost up to 20% performance in some games.