[Debunked] Valve Is Building a 'Steam Console' To Rival PS5 and Xbox, Rumour Claims
[Debunked] Valve Is Building a 'Steam Console' To Rival PS5 and Xbox, Rumour Claims
The latest rumours have suggested that Valve is (still) building a 'Steam console' to rival PlayStation and Xbox units.
Debunk from dev Pierre-Loup Griffais @plagman.bsky.social
"we've done pre-release Mesa Vulkan work on every AMD architecture since Vega thanks to them kindly providing hardware, so there's nothing meaningful to read into there."
The article has been updated, this isn't true unfortunately.
Overall, this makes sense. We've kind of acted like console gaming is somehow separate from computer gaming because of consoles exclusive monopolies on various titles, but it's become much clearer over time that it's actually PC which has been gather exclusive titles by... just... Being easy to develop for with no requirement to port? It looks more and more like we're seeing PC taking over the gaming space more and more. Hopefully valve can pull this off right.
Instant pre-order for me. Steamdeck has been by far my favorite gaming console but TV performance is only good for low requirement games and I'd love the same experience for proper 4k gaming even if it's medium fidelity.
Again?
Third time's the charm. Well, in their case second time was the charm, the steamdeck was such a success that I understand the decision to try out the steam machines idea once again.
If they build it as an actual console rather than the previous thing where anyone could put out a PC, install SteamOS on it, and call it a Steam Machine, then it will probably be genuinely competitive with Xbox. Sure, it'll still be a standard X86-64 system running Linux, but they need brand control.
I run Bazzite HTPC Version on my gaming rig, i would consider this the best console experience nowadays. A huge amount of games, no need to rebuy games i allready owned on a previous PC and most games run out of the box just fine.
Ok. And how much will it cost?
Likely more than consoles which are usually sold at a loss.
I think the steamdeck is either sold at cost or at a loss too. Based on This article and others like it, Gaben says the price is a bit "painful" for valve.
Steam Machine 3: This time it's personal.
Good things come in 3s....
Not at valve they dont
Instead of the Electric Boogalo, it's the Steam Dreamaroo.
This rumor has been going around for a few months now, mostly because of some commits targeting new unknown hardware to SteamOS afaik.
I hope the rumor is true, I love my steamdeck but something a bit more powerful that allows me to play Steam games in 4k on my TV would be awesome. If they run the same exact OS as on the steamdeck you could even do stuff like ad-free youtube using Firefox.
but something a bit more powerful that allows me to play Steam games in 4k on my TV would be awesome.
I got news for you! You can literally build a computer to do this right now, no need to wait for steam.
Do you want some eggs? I got news for you! You can literally build a chicken shed right now, no need to wait for farmers.
Seriously, the same captain obvious answer all the time when a Steam console is mentioned. It’s infuriating. Consoles exist for a reason, to provide a ready and verified environment for playing games without any fiddling.
There's also been some arm SoC work by valve, could be they're gearing up for a new SteamStation, could be that they're opening up SteamOS for 3rd party manufacturers like Lenovo. Only time will tell.
I know this isn't exactly what you mean, but I use the Remote Play function to stream games from my PC to my living room TV, it works like a charm!
This could be nice for folks that want a console-like living room experience that "just works".
Me? I built a Linux HTPC a dozen years ago and have periodically updated the graphics card (it gets the hand-me-downs from my main gaming PC) so I don't need this. I'm far more interested in a Steam Controller 2 😄
Ugh, tell me about it!!!
Those SC2 leaks happened a while ago but we've still to hear anything official about it at all, sure hope they haven't scrapped it...I built a Linux HTPC like a month ago. I tried a couple of different distros, mainly because the Xbox controller (that I bought new) didn't work with any distro. The Playstation one works perfectly, but that Xbox mf is a lost cause (I'm going to change it for a tattoo lmao, and save for another Playstation controller).
At the end, I landed on Bazzite distro and is working fine. The KDE plasma interface is really good (after like 10 years with Linux mint cinnamon, the plasma feel like I'm in the future)
Something something steam link…
I'm not the target for such device, I play on my PC and on the Deck when on the couch. But I wish the rumor is true, it will boost PC gaming as a whole
What would make me happy is a way smoother experience with game streaming. With moonlight/sunshine I've found it works incredibly well - when it does. I always ran into issues with resolution setting, windows lock screen, power on power off etc. I mean, I'm sure I could figure it out over time but I'm way to lazy, I don't have time to tinker with that. I just want it to work.
If I could sit on my couch and have a cool and quiet steam deck streaming off my PC in the other room, that would be sweet.
I'm not sure what would be the point. Isn't it "just" a PC with Steam OS running on it? Would it be to help people just default to SteamOS?
Having a popular, standardized pc with fixed hardware and OS would enable game developers to aim that as minimum(or recommended) requirement and to optimize their games for that. And since it will be running linux, this means that gaming in linux would become even more mainstream and better supported too.
That is indeed a good argument reason. I wish them all the best!
aren't the other consoles just pcs with custom os?
Kinda, but not quite. The main difference, imo, is that consoles have several anti-tampering measures in place, often as exclusive hardware, to ensure owners don't jailbreak. The PC is, by design, open and "unsafe", without measures to stop owners from doing whatever.
Kinda. They are not very customisable. They are locked down boxes. You can't run your normal applications on it, control it with a mouse or keyboard, etc.
Think of them like laptops, they have a lot of components that make them a pc but arent really able to be modified or changed
When the first Steam Machines were announced years ago, I assumed they'd all be running the same hardware like consoles do, and I thought that was actually quite a good idea because it could give game devs a sort of "baseline" set of hardware to aim for, as opposed to the sort of "vaguely make it run on Windows" system we seem to have currently. So if the new ones are all more-or-less the same kit like the Steam Decks are, and they take off well enough, it could be handy in that way I guess.
Plus it'll presumably run SteamOS so more Linux exposure which I always appreciate.
Optimization profiles for games to target the specific hardware. It would be for people that want a steam deck like device that isn’t portable. Which would probably sell more units than a steam deck now. If priced right I would put it in my living room. It just needs to have the QOL that comes with console for couch gaming.
Sure, which would be great for people who don't want to build their own PC or buy an expensive prebuilt.
From reddit:
is this trust worthy?
Extasis mentions this guy handledeck as the source
https://xcancel.com/HandleDeck/status/1886501899832021224#m
which links to this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgKzbHIWDK4
which just mentions this article https://www.phoronix.com/news/Mesa-25.0-RADV-RDNA4-State
saying: "by reading this article carefully we can come up to the conclusion that..."
Seems all bullshit.
Do want.
What does Valve actually need: sell a x86 SoC PC for extra-extra cheap... barely capable to run 720p60fpd high quality, and extremely well optimized, videogames such as Resident Evil4 Remake and latest Doom, bundle the SoC with those games to the point it may look as you're just buying regular bundled games but the PC to run it comes for free.
IE: 140€ to get Resident Evil Remake 2,3 and 4 for +the SoC: You just need to add the disk space (MictoSD/SSD) to download&run OS+games.
Thankfully you don't work at Valve.
IE: 140€
Dude, you can't even build a Raspberry Pi 5 based Retropie for that price. And the most you could run is emulated Gamecube games
Not a build, what I am thinking it's exactly as a raspberryPi5 is, just slightly more powerful. The idea is to kickstart sort of DIY PC console, in which Valve sell you just the very bare bones (CPU/GPU/ram and only strictly necessary I/O, just like the RPI5 board) + some key license for games to test things out, then anybody can build up whatever they want, even plugging an external GPU if so they desire.
Does it come with a battery that's not rechargeable and only lasts for exactly one playthrough of the game after which you throw the whole thing in the trash?
Don't they already have this? What is the Steam Deck, if not a rival to the PS5 and the Xbox ala the Switch? Shouldn't the focus go into optimizing that space, as opposed to trying again at the home console market?
Yeah I have a Steam Deck with a dock and bluetooth mouse & keyboard, it's basically just a desktop PC lol.
Although the Deck does struggle a bit with super high-end games, so a similar thing with beefier hardware could fill a niche there I guess?
The Switch was Nintendo giving up the spec race entirely to create an ok console and good handheld device.
The Steam Deck copied the design ethos of the Switch. It is an ok gaming PC that is great for mobile gaming.
A Steam console would be slightly different, but I could see it doing well, especially if it can become an entertainment center.
Has Nintendo ever really been about the spec race? Apart from maybe the 64.