[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] Valve will unveil its delayed new gaming hardware, Steam Machine, and standalone VR headset, Steam Frame, this summer. An exact launch date was not disclosed. But the timetable, which had previously been limited to a within-the-year target, has now been narrowed to summer, prompting speculation that the release is nearing.

According to IT outlet The Verge on June 4 (local time), Valve said in a recent blog post introducing a developer verification programme that new Steam hardware will launch this summer. Valve said it "hopes that when new Steam hardware launches this summer, users will be able to experience your games firsthand," it explained.

Steam Machine and Steam Frame were first unveiled late last year along with the Steam Controller. At the time, Valve said it planned to begin shipping the products from early 2026. But it moved to adjust the schedule after issues emerged early this year over the supply of memory and storage devices. Valve later reaffirmed in March a plan to launch within the year, and in this announcement it specified the timing as this summer.

Among the three products, the Steam Controller already began sales in May. Steam Machine and Steam Frame, however, still have no disclosed pricing or detailed launch schedule.

Ahead of the launch, Valve also unveiled a separate verification programme for the two devices alongside a revamp of the Steam Store. The move is intended to allow developers to check game compatibility and performance in advance. For users, as with the Steam Deck verification badge, it means games carrying a Steam Machine or Steam Frame verification mark are more likely to run smoothly without additional settings.

Steam Machine, in particular, is known to far surpass Steam Deck in performance. Valve said Steam Machine offers about six times higher performance than Steam Deck. That raises the likelihood that games that failed verification on Steam Deck due to performance limitations could run smoothly on Steam Machine.

Valve said it is also conducting separate tests in the Steam Machine environment for games that did not meet performance standards on Steam Deck.

The VR device Steam Frame focuses in a different direction. The Steam Frame verification programme evaluates whether games run stably in a standalone headset environment. It also supports streaming games, but Valve said it is prioritising a standalone VR experience that runs on the device itself. That aligns with a trend in the VR market shifting from external PC connections to standalone headsets.

In the industry, the launch is seen as a sign of Valve expanding its hardware strategy after Steam Deck. Analysts say Valve is moving more aggressively to build a hardware ecosystem beyond its PC gaming platform, as Steam Machine targets the high-performance handheld gaming platform market and Steam Frame aims to capture the standalone VR market.

Market attention, however, remains focused on pricing. As Valve recently raised Steam Deck prices in some regions, the pricing policy for Steam Machine and Steam Frame is also expected to have a significant impact on consumer response.

So far, what Valve has officially disclosed is that the two products will launch this summer and that it is proceeding with a store revamp and verification programme updates in line with that. The exact launch date and pricing are expected to be announced through additional updates.