Today was a big day for gamers as Valve just introduced three products: the Steam Controller, the Steam Machine, and the Steam Frame. When you add this alongside the Steam Deck, I think it’s safe to say that Valve is about to win the next console generation.
Spoilers: it’s not going to
They have already stated that it won’t be price competitive with consoles. But hopefully a lot of people will realise they will save money in the long run through steam sails and not being locked into a single store.
Then it’s definitely not going to kill the big 3
Yes. LoL.
But if anyone is going to kill the big three, it will be themselves, with:
- The “Switch - It’s just more expensive now - 2”,
- The “Playstation - by the time you can buy one the hype is over” and the
- The “X Box Series - Call our 900 number to find out which one you should buy”
4K gaming at 60 FPS with FSR, thanks to a discrete semi-custom AMD desktop class CPU and GPU.
Source: Steam Machine page on Steam
Maybe I’m expecting too much on a small build PC but I’m not too keen on having to use FSR to get decent performance on higher display resolution than 1080p. But we will see how it performs and when reviews are in. I’m cautiously optimistic otherwise.
Probably not but surely will leave a dent on console market.
Unlikely, but they will carve a niche for themselves for people who want more than just a console, perhaps it will win over some people who cross shop consoles and PCs. More importantly it will help grow GNU+Linux.
They’ve entered the ring but we have no idea what pricing will look like and the machine is looking like it will be less powerful than the ps5/xsx, even before console optimizations are taken into account.
We do have some idea based upon the price of all the components in the bill of materials, and the expected markup. If the markup is the same as the Steam Deck, which was 34%, then the Steam Machine will be about $570. That makes it very competitive with the current gen consoles.
Awesome, this is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to see. Where have you found an analysis of the component / bill of materials costs? I haven’t been able to find that yet.
I only read about it in a Lemmy comment somewhere, and they mentioned some YouTube channel or something.
So, sorry, I don’t have a source.Oh, I think I just found it. I did a quick search on YT and this was the result. That’s the name of the channel the comment mentioned.
Awesome, thank you! I’ve started watching it.
If it prices comparably to the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles, they may be onto something. I still think it’ll just carve Valve a sizeable spot in the market. But who knows, maybe Xbox’s business model collapses. There hasn’t been much of a reason to buy an Xbox if you already own a PC, and PCs priced like consoles could definitely put a dent in their sales.
a sizable spot is a win no?
For sure, but it’s not “winning the console generation”
Fair. I am not sure what that means but probably: Valve PC Sales > Each Separate Console Sale
Yea, that’s unlikely but not impossible.
Definitely not impossible. I also think they have a decent chance of killing the Xbox business model, given that there’s no real reason to buy an Xbox over a PC other than brand loyalty or wanting a console. The Steam Machine fills that second need, of course.
Anything cheaper than PS5 pro and is as good or better performance-wise -> market gonna have a fun time! No one can claim after that PCs are expensive to build/buy than a console and consoles are better for gaming. The line is going to be completely blurred.
Steam Deck made PC handheld gaming possible. I can only imagine what will be possible with a full fledged machine. And if they will release SteamOS for other hardware - that’ll be extreme win for PC Gaming in many years.
