It looks like Valve’s Steam Machine may finally be on its way after a huge import effort – and despite our fears, it may actually support full 4K 120Hz and VRR eventually, making it a full PS5 and Xbox replacement

Valve has imported (literally) tons of “Game Consoles”
Weights and details suggest they are not Steam Decks
HDMI 2.1 VRR and 4K 120Hz could be delivered via firmware update

With the new Steam Controller now shipping, attention turns to Valve’s long-awaited Steam Machine – and, fingers crossed, it looks like it’s nearing launch as well. Valve has reportedly brought about 50 tons of “game consoles” into the United States, at least according to import records seen by The Verge, .

While it is possible that these imports are Steam Decks that used the same label for their shipments, the shipping records describe different weights and patterns this time. And that has led to speculation, or perhaps desire, that the Steam Machine’s US launch is imminent.

But if it is, expect them to sell out quickly, unless Valve has many more containers on the way or already here: as Notebookcheck.net calculates, 50-ton shipments work out to about 20,000 Steam Machines.

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The new Steam Controller is here – will its matching cube follow suit? (Image credit: Future)

That’s not the only Steam Machine news circulating this week. It also looks like Valve’s new console could come with HDMI 2.1, including full quality 4K at 120Hz and variable refresh rate, which was feared to be impossible.

If so, it makes it an even more serious rival to the Xbox Series X and PS5 for gaming on the best gaming TVs because it makes the Steam Machine an even more impressive gaming platform for big 4K screens.

Will the Steam machine have HDMI 2.1?

The Steam Machine is currently listed with a spec of HDMI 2.0 and 4K at 120Hz with a reduced color gamut. That’s because true 48 Gbps HDMI 2.1 with AMD graphics and Linux OS wasn’t possible: As Valve explained late last year, the HDMI Forum had blocked open source Linux drivers for HDMI 2.1.

Valve said the hardware was definitely HDMI 2.1 compatible, but the software wasn’t, and it helped AMD “unblock things there.” And according to reports on Phoronix, AMD has done just that.

AMD has released a series of Linux kernel patches that add support for HDMI Fixed Rate Link, aka FRL, a feature exclusive to HDMI 2.1. It currently works on AMD GPUs on Linux systems. The next step is to develop a full implementation of HDMI 2.1 to potentially deliver 4K at 120Hz (or higher) with HDR, variable refresh rate and automatic low latency mode.

There’s no timeline for full implementation, so it’s unlikely we’ll see HDMI 2.1 at launch, when it actually turns out to be. But HDMI 2.1 is clearly possible on the Steam Machine, and that suggests it’s not a matter of whether Valve will support the standard, but when that support will be delivered so it can truly match what the consoles can do.

We’re still waiting for a launch date for the Steam Machine, but hopefully it will be announced very soon: the launch has been delayed due to memory and storage shortages, so the early 2026 launch has been pushed back. However, Valve was still hoping to launch in the first half of 2026, so we may see what’s in those shipping containers very soon.