Valve has shared some updates on Steam Machine availability, hardware customisability, and software support, indicating that it expects everyone in the reservation queue to get the opportunity to purchase one by the end of this year. The company says that it began shipping Steam Machines at the end of June and that it’s fulfilling orders on a daily basis.
“If you have a reservation, you can expect an email offering you the chance to purchase by the end of the year,” said Valve in a recent statement. Note, however, that if you receive this email, you must complete your purchase within 72 hours or your spot will be given to the next person in line.
Valve says that, since each reservation queue and corresponding waitlist is built on a per-product, per-region basis, they may move at different speeds depending on demand. In other words, if a product’s queue is completely fulfilled in one region, the company will start inviting customers from the waitlist, regardless of other regions’ status.
Moving forward, anyone who comes off their waitlist will first receive a message confirming their place in the reservation queue, followed by an email with an option to purchase their Steam Machine sometime after that. Most importantly, no one on the waitlist is leapfrogging over anyone currently holding a reservation.
Valve has also added FSR 4.1 support to Proton Experimental for titles supporting FSR’s upgrade path. This brings higher quality upscaling with greater image stability to even more games that would otherwise be stuck with FSR 3.1. For example, FSR 4.1 is much better at reconstructing fine elements such as grass, leaves, chain-link/fences, power lines, and hair, unlike FSR 3.1’s often soft and blurry look – especially at lower render resolutions.
Lastly, Valve has also shared CAD files of the Steam Machine’s external geometry, which allows anyone with a 3D printer to make their own enclosures. These add to the previously released Controller CAD files.
