Steam Machine’s official prices were already higher than many people expected because of the global memory shortage. However, the resale market has pushed prices much higher as limited launch stock and strong demand continue to drive up costs.
The standard Steam Machine starts at $1,049 from Valve, but many scalpers are already asking at least $1,700 on sites like eBay. The 512GB Steam Machine + Steam Controller Bundle, which officially sells for $1,128, is now being listed for as much as $3,200, almost three times its retail price. Meanwhile, the 2TB model, which has an official price of $1,349, is currently appearing on resale sites for between $2,399 and $2,899.
To avoid repeating the stock problems seen during the launch of the standalone Steam Controller last month, Valve introduced several anti-scalping measures before opening Steam Machine pre-orders. The company used a reservation system instead of a first-come, first-served launch. Buyers also had to have a Steam account in good standing with no active bans, as well as a purchase history that existed before the recent Steam Machine pre-order announcement.
However, even with those measures in place, scalpers have still found ways to resell their pre-order reservations for much higher prices before the Steam Machine has even launched. Anyone thinking about buying one should also be careful. Some pre-orders may still be linked to the original buyer’s Steam account, which could cause problems when trying to activate or use the device.
In other Steam hardware news, Valve is offering some Steam Controller buyers a free game of their choice after a shipping mix-up caused delivery problems for some orders. In addition, fans have discovered a hidden Easter egg in the Steam Controller that plays the famous Wilhelm scream sound effect when the device is dropped. For more Steam-related coverage, keep checking GameObserver.
