While Valve has remained relatively quiet about the upcoming Steam Machine, the latest prototypes will make an appearance during this year's GDC, company representative Doug Lombardi confirmed to us today.

Valve previously announced 13 third-party partners who will release Steam Machines that run the company's SteamOS operating system, with manufacturers including the likes of CyberPowerPC, AlienWare and iBuyPower. As was previously promised by Valve honcho Gabe Newell, the first batch of machines come with a wide variety of CPU, RAM and storage specs, with prices to match that broad range.

Valve and its hardware partners initially planned to bring their Steam Machines to the public last year before revising its plans. The company is now planning to launch the gaming tech sometime this year, two years after releasing a prototype to 300 beta testers in 2013.

As we previously reported, the SteamOS-based computer is designed to fit standard computer hardware of varying specifications. Graphics cards run the gamut from an Nvidia GTX660 to a Titan, while the system itself comes in a console-size box that won't look out of place in a typical living room entertainment center.

"We wanted to accomplish some specific design goals that in the past others weren't yet tackling. One of them was to combine high-end power with a living-room-friendly form factor. Another was to help us test living-room scenarios on a box that's as open as possible," said Valve's Greg Coomer in a post on the Steam forums at the time.

Check out our interview with Valve's Jeff Cain on the company's plans to merge living rooms lifestyle with PC gaming.

This year's GDC 2015 runs from March 2-6 in San Francisco, California.