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[Guilty_AI]

I see that as bonus features. If you want you can just sit in regular Steam Deck mode and forget all about drivers and files and programs etc, it works pretty much identically like a console then.

I dont think you understand. The fact it can do this means, unlike consoles, Valve does not fully control Steam deck's ecosystem. If you wish to buy and download non-steam games, you can. If a random dev wants to make their own game targeting steam deck, they can freely do it without valve needing to give explicit permission.

THAT is the crucial difference, what makes this a pc rather than a console.

 

[Midn1ght]

So I don’t think SteamBox is going to compete with that. But it can still have value as a companion device, similar to SteamDeck, for those that want a couch experience and are already invested in the Steam ecosystem that don’t want to chase the high end PC configurations.

SteamDeck is successful, but not mainstream, similar to the PS Portal. It adds value to the existing ecosystem rather than materially expending it to new audiences. This is much the same.

Damn, I agree with everything you said here.

In a PC/Valve thread!

I don't know how to feel.

 

[Idleyes]

Steam: "Eh mi yout, come check di brand-new console mi build up!"
Sony: "Yeah, uh... no."
Steam: "Wha? Yuh tink mi a Xbox? Mi is di PC, bredren!"
Sony: "No more PC ports."
Steam: "Mi cyaah deal wid yuh foolishness, star!"

Don't ask why steam is Jamaican.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Steam: "Eh mi yout, come check di brand-new console mi build up!"
Sony: "Yeah, uh... no."
Steam: "Wha? Yuh tink mi a Xbox? Mi is di PC, bredren!"
Sony: "No more PC ports."
Steam: "Mi cyaah deal wid yuh foolishness, star!"

Don't ask why steam is Jamaican.

Why is steam Jamaican?

 

[Crayon]

In my headcannon, deckard is their real priority but they are waiting on technology to get that right.

Some people think a stationary console-like product wouldn't be very useful, but it's probably a lot better for adoption of steamos in the long run. Better for more people to experience an ootb install that's been properly tested.

 

[Idleyes]

Why is steam Jamaican?

Because I'm Jamaican.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Because I'm Jamaican.

Oh, i thought it was because of jamaican -> bob marley -> weed -> smoke -> steam

 

[LRKD]

I think you mean compete with Nintendo, since Xbox and PS will be giving steam their 'exclusive' games

 

[{insert code here}]

With Nintendo firmly in the handheld market and Xbox being Xbox, there's a big hole in the console market imo for a PlayStation alternative. Valve's proven with SteamDeck they can hang in the hardware space. Would not be shocked to see a SteamBox in the next year or two and I'm here for it.

I game on PC but I still prefer console. It's just that the options right now are two boxes from two companies full of employees that don't want people like me (straight man) in the industry. There's a potentially huge market for Valve if they can steer clear (as they have) of all the woke politics because we will hype this shit to the moon if they do .

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

Damn, that'll be incredible value for the console bros. All the PC, Xbox, and almost every PS game with free online. Add in a Switch 2 and you'll have everything covered.

 

[sachos]

Makes sense that they will try and revive the SteamMachine concept, its what many of us have been talking about since they have their new SteamOS and UI for the SteamDeck, no reason not to try it at least once more. But they need to offer many variations of hardware and they need to build it themselves.

 

[awwr999999]

Sony was stupid not to do its own thing on pc.

MS owns PC and in particular PC gaming. Sony's smartest move is to be the anti-PC.
Getting off of x86 and moving back to esoteric Sony CPU/GPU is their next logical step.

 

[BlackTron]

If it happened, it would be the exact same thing as Steam Deck, except stronger, and a console instead of a handheld.

Nobody said the Steam Deck had to outsell Switch to be worth making or a success, why would this need to "take on" Playstation?

 

[Sonik]

Based. Gaben please save us

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Sony Bros should pray for this to happen. Sony would pull its games out of Steam as fast as MS puts games on PlayStation. By the way, Xbox Bros should fear this happening greatly too, as the Xbox brand would disappear from the face of the earth as quickly as Phil Spencer saying "Only four games"

 

[HogIsland]

Sony Bros should pray for this to happen. Sony would pull its games out of Steam as fast as MS puts games on PlayStation. By the way, Xbox Bros should fear this happening greatly too, as the Xbox brand would disappear from the face of the earth as quickly as Phil Spencer saying "Only four games"

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Sony Bros should pray for this to happen. Sony would pull its games out of Steam as fast as MS puts games on PlayStation. By the way, Xbox Bros should fear this happening greatly too, as the Xbox brand would disappear from the face of the earth as quickly as Phil Spencer saying "Only four games"

Don't think so, because again, I don't think anyone expects it to sell PS5 like numbers. It will sell more like a SteamDeck to existing ecosystem (a few million or so)

Sony is still making much more price/power competitive console experience for their consumers, SteamPCs will be more expensive but offer value to some of their existing users.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

I don't see why they would want to do this when the risk is probably quite high for them. They've got Steam Deck which is an amazing device.

I don't know if the risk is really all that much higher then the Steam Deck was, and Steam Deck has figured out a lot of the issues that the original Steam machines had.

The original Steam machine/Alienware Alpha came out in a completely different landscape then to what a new one would release into.
1. PC gaming was not what it is now. PC gaming in 2025 is much more mainstream then in 2015.
2. Steam Deck has figure out a lot of the compatibility issues the original machines had. The original machines could only run games that had native linux ports unless you bough the Alpha which ran windows. Steam Deck can basically run everything outside of games that require certain types of anti-cheat.
3. PC hardware is also much different now then before. A similar APU to what the Series X and PS5 uses is much more accessible now then before, and Valve already has experience working with AMD because of the Steam Deck APU.
4. Similar to the last point but if they didn't want to go the custom APU route they could probably just do a custom ITX machine or simply use laptop components similar to that Minisforum machine (tall skinny thing with a mobile 4070) but AMD for compatibility.

Valve has also proven that they can release a high quality product at a cheap price. The fact that the Steam Deck was released at $399 in 2022 is nuts as basically every single other handheld gaming PC is $600 or above.

If ANYBODY can do it it's Valve. They hit it out of the park with the Steam Deck, and they already have the basis of the machine right there in the steam deck. This would really just be a more powerful steam deck without all of the mobile components and paired with a new Steam controller or simply sold without anything and requiring a separate controller or M/KB.

 

[salva]

I love my Steam Deck - while most of the time it's pretty seamless; there's still a long way to go. Especially with older games where they perform fine, but control schemes or config isn't straight forward... I'd assume a Steam-based console would run SteamOS and be in a similar situation.

Mainstream gamers probably wouldn't be the target audience - they just want to click "play"...but they could be if they somehow improved or guaranteed support for EVERYTHING and it all just works. Currently, if it's not a brand new game that is steam verified, you have to check prontonDB and maybe make some manual random config changes etc

 

[simpatico]

Yay, digital only future

The internet has been turned off
Food rations coming fewer and fewer
The undercity is bubbling with anxiety
Sewers overflowing
Thankfully, I'm still able to play 1.0 disc versions of PS5 games with the aid of my solar panels.

 

[SportsFan581]

They would have a much better shot at it this time around, with all the work they've put into SteamDeck.

 

[PurePlatinum]

Gabe striking while Xbox is bleeding. Good idea.

I have no interesting in anything made by Microsoft but I'd buy a Valve designed box that plays Steam games, for sure.

 

[Fess]

I dont think you understand. The fact it can do this means, unlike consoles, Valve does not fully control Steam deck's ecosystem. If you wish to buy and download non-steam games, you can. If a random dev wants to make their own game targeting steam deck, they can freely do it without valve needing to give explicit permission.

THAT is the crucial difference, what makes this a pc rather than a console.

So? I flicked to developer mode on Xbox and added my own game without MS needing to give explicit permission.

I understand quite well that there are more possibilities through SteamOS but in Steam Deck’s regular game mode Valve is very much in control. To add non-Steam apps you go out to desktop mode, to Linux, that’s where the walls truly fall. You can’t just power it up flick through your games list and go install your Gamepass games, not sure you can install them at all but haven’t looked it up there might be ways around it. Either way it’s not like having more capabilities is a bad thing so those negative posts makes no sense.
Steam Deck is like a handheld console, only better.

 

[Jesb]

I thought they already got into the console space with steamdeck.

 

[Inanilmaz]

Half Life 3
Portal 3
Left 4 Dead 3
Counter Strike 3
+New ip
All exclusives and only available/playable on valve console/deck (time exclusive 5years). Would be cool if they could release new ips for every console they make in the future.

 

[Edgelord79]

 

[odhiex]

DEBUNKED

 

[RickMasters]

Hmmmm…… I dunno been done with mumrw game boxes under my living room TV for years…… and I do t need this in any too. Where I got a PC.



But I think this has potential for other people all the same.

 

[Shtof]

I think the chain of reasoning at Valve is not to compete with consoles, cause consoles are usually sold at break even or a loss.

What they do want, is to sell games in an environment with monopoly.
It could be "open", but if there are no serious competitors, it's a monopoly.

The Steam Deck presents such an environment. But wait.
Unlike consoles, the OS is open for anyone to use.
So competitors that want to sell hardware are welcome to bring forward their own devices.
With the Steam Deck, those competitors have already released multiple devices, and more are coming.
This is what Valve wants. They probably won't make a Steam Deck 2, cause they never wanted to make hardware anyway.
They just had to show that is was possible to the competition.

 

[Guilty_AI]

So? I flicked to developer mode on Xbox and added my own game without MS needing to give explicit permission.

Can you sell it without MS permission? Through any official digital store?

I understand quite well that there are more possibilities through SteamOS but in Steam Deck’s regular game mode Valve is very much in control. To add non-Steam apps you go out to desktop mode, to Linux, that’s where the walls truly fall.

And once you do they work in game mode. Deck's game mode is just a custom interface, nothing more nothing less, there are even similar things on normal PCs like big picture mode.

 

[Hudo]

They probably won't make a Steam Deck 2, cause they never wanted to make hardware anyway.

Didn't Gabe himself say that they wanted to make their own hardware for quite a long time and how he admires Nintendo because of their wholistic approach?
Also, the people at Valve responsible for Steam Deck already soft-confirmed Steam Deck 2 is happing, just that they want to wait for a big enough jump in tech.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

MS owns PC and in particular PC gaming. Sony's smartest move is to be the anti-PC.
Getting off of x86 and moving back to esoteric Sony CPU/GPU is their next logical step.

Imagine all these super smart and talented developers we have today trying to get their shit to run on that.

 

[BlackTron]

The internet has been turned off
Food rations coming fewer and fewer
The undercity is bubbling with anxiety
Sewers overflowing
Thankfully, I'm still able to play 1.0 disc versions of PS5 games with the aid of my solar panels.

Unfortunately, the extra brand new PS5 you left in the box for when the first one dies fails you, because you never synced its disc drive. Doh!

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

DEBUNKED

What did it say?

 

[Humdinger]

I hope they get to market with it faster than MS does with their rumored high-end Xbox, which supposedly (?) will have Steam integrated. I'm a console peasant, considering a jump next gen to a PC hybrid console-ish machine. I would rather go with Valve than MS.

 

[Fess]

Can you sell it without MS permission? Through any official digital store?


And once you do they work in game mode. Deck's game mode is just a custom interface, nothing more nothing less, there are even similar things on normal PCs like big picture mode.

I understand what you’re saying… But hear me out now. I just don’t think the differences when using a SteamOS device is so drastically different that ”It’s just a PC” is a good way to look at it when wondering if SteamOS devices would compete with regular consoles.

IF Valve would roll out SteamOS devices and have competitive pricing, then I absolutely think they would compete with consoles to reach the same audience.

As you say, even a regular PC is doing similar things now. The real difference in usage is really Windows and drivers, you can boot a Windows PC into Steam big picture mode and aaalmost skip Windows desktop (you see it for 5 seconds) but when you want new drivers for your graphics card you need to exit Steam and go to Nvidia’s app or website. On a SteamOS device it’s all handled within Steam like a console.

 

[HogIsland]

I think the chain of reasoning at Valve is not to compete with consoles, cause consoles are usually sold at break even or a loss.

What they do want, is to sell games in an environment with monopoly.
It could be "open", but if there are no serious competitors, it's a monopoly.

The Steam Deck presents such an environment. But wait.
Unlike consoles, the OS is open for anyone to use.
So competitors that want to sell hardware are welcome to bring forward their own devices.
With the Steam Deck, those competitors have already released multiple devices, and more are coming.
This is what Valve wants. They probably won't make a Steam Deck 2, cause they never wanted to make hardware anyway.
They just had to show that is was possible to the competition.

completely wrong. valve describes steam deck as "a multigenerational project".

the concerns about windows being a monopoly, and getting evil with the windows store are real, but not the main reason valve is making a linux distribution. the main reason is just that it's the obvious way to make their own gaming hardware. we've seen what it looks like to release a handheld PC running windows. it's bad. valve does not care if you run linux on your work computer.

Valve Confirms Steam Deck Will Be 'Multigenerational'

Steam Deck 2, anyone?

www.cnet.com

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Valve will NEVER loss lead on hardware. So, there is no chance the price : performance ratio will be comparable to a PS/Xbox.

Just like their previous Steam Machines endevaour, this will be a bre-built Linux PC that is priced like one.

 

[TheUndeadGamer]

If it pushes even more Flopny to stop the PC port bs then it's good thing

Oh no! Sony is putting their 1st party games in PC! The horror

 

[jroc74]

oddly enough, I think the new SteamBox will compete more with Xbox Prime than PS or Nintendo

Xbox Prime is rumored to do the same thing - higher priced PC meant for the living room with a console lite UI

Curious who wins this niche war?

"The Xbox PC hybrid will be glorious!!" "We can get Sony games on an Xbox!!"

Valve:

This would be wild. I wanna see it happen. This plus Steam OS on other hand helds would be one hell of a 1-2 punch.

 

[viveks86]

DEBUNKED

 

[Thebonehead]

What the fuck. This is the second popular gif I have seen him recreating. What are these from.

 

[odhiex]

What did it say?

Welp. The tweet and the revised article are gone now, it was from the InsiderGaming. Maybe they retracted it so the rumors still stands.

 

[Bry0]

Welp. The tweet and the revised article are gone now, it was from the InsiderGaming. Maybe they retracted it so the rumors still stands.

No it’s not. Here are links.
Like Kepler already said here, nothing burger.

https://insider-gaming.com/steam-console-ps-xbox-rival-rumours/

https://bsky.app/profile/plagman.bsky.social/post/3lhflptgruk2v

 

[Guardian Monkey]

EDIT: nm… that back and forth translations for confusing.

 

[viveks86]

No it’s not. Here are links.
Like Kepler already said here, nothing burger.

https://insider-gaming.com/steam-console-ps-xbox-rival-rumours/

https://bsky.app/profile/plagman.bsky.social/post/3lhflptgruk2v

Thanks! I think the bluesky post should effectively lock the thread or at least update the title Lunatic_Gamer

 

[awwr999999]

Imagine all these super smart and talented developers we have today trying to get their shit to run on that.

That's exactly why we got better games when PS was running esoteric HW (PS1, PS2).
Constraints, limiting choice and decreasing options boosts creativity.

 

[ArtHands]

It's true that Valve already has a huge market that will only continue to grow. They don't need to sell 100 million units of their console like Nintendo with the Switch 2—probably even one million would be a success for them. Unlike Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo, Valve operates in different world.

That’s why PC is a league above the consoles.

 

[Arsic]

Cloud streaming technology has come a very long way. Plus you have PS Portal.

Maybe this device is simply able to use a steam deck as the controller, or any other current controller, play your PC Steam library on your TV, without having to run the game off your pc? Or the option to run from your pc or from valve remote pcs like GeForce does? But with a much larger library of games?

I don’t know but I’m always curious on anything valve is cooking up. The steam deck is my favorite handheld ever.

 

[Sony]

I don't believe this. They're dominant in the PC gaming space and there is no reason for then to take risks in the console market.