Valve's Steam hardware will be sold at GameStop, GAME UK, and EB Games retailers in the US, UK, and Canada.

The so-called "Steam Sections" will operate as "stores within stores," stocking Steam Machines and controllers, the Steam Link streaming dongle, and Steam prepaid cards.

GameStop SVP of Merchandising Bob Puzon also confirmed that the stores would be Valve's "exclusive non-digital retail launch partner" for its devices.

The partnership is a surprising one, given how drastically Steam's online sales have reduced the revenues of brick-and-mortar shops over the last ten years.

It could be seen as analogous to US book retailer Barnes & Noble getting into the e-reader business in the face of falling physical book sales.

No word has yet emerged as to whether Australian or New Zealand branches of EB Games will stock the hardware.

Valve's target release date for Steam Machines is November 10.