Summary
- With the Steam Deck’s success, Valve might reintroduce a Steam Machine, possibly challenging Windows.
- SteamOS now supports a wide range of Windows games, threatening Windows’ gaming dominance.
- PC users may switch to Linux for gaming, potentially affecting Windows as Microsoft shifts focus.
Valve’s first attempt at a “Steam Machine” famously went nowhere, but with the success of the Steam Deck, there are rumors that Valve might try again. True or not, if this actually happens, it could be a blow to the PC gaming platform of choice: Windows.
Remember Steam Machines?
Almost exactly a year before writing this, I opined that Valve should bring back the Steam Machine. If you didn’t know, these are computers built to physically resemble consoles, and run SteamOS.
Unfortunately, barely any games would work on this early Linux-based operating system, and the system would largely be made by third-party computer builders. It’s a little reminiscent of the 3DO, which was also a home console system licensed to multiple companies for manufacturing.
Following the failure of Steam Machines to take off, Valve went back to the drawing board, and came up with the Steam Deck. A handheld gaming PC that competes with the Nintendo Switch, had a new version of SteamOS that worked with a huge number of Steam Games, and is designed and built by Valve itself.
Recently, it was revealed that Valve was working with Lenovo, and that Lenovo’s Legion S console would have a SteamOS version. If this is a success, we might see numerous SteamOS handhelds, as I predicted back in the heady days if 2022.
Related
So, of course, rumors that Valve is working with AMD have surfaced as the Deck’s success bring us to the logical conclusion that a scaled-up Steam Deck could be another big success.
SteamOS Is Ready to Eat Windows as a Gaming Platform
Unlike last time, SteamOS is now capable of playing a huge number of Windows games with little to no downside. That number is growing by the day, and the level of performance and compatibility is also getting better on a consistent basis. Even better, game developers are actively tweaking their games to work better with the Windows compatibility layer at the heart of SteamOS; the software that makes it possible for Windows games to run on this Linux distribution. There are even games, like Cyberpunk 2077, that have added Steam Deck presets.
Given how successful the Steam Deck has been and that SteamOS is clearly expanding to other systems, I expect new game releases going ahead to be compatible with SteamOS, since it’s in the developer’s interest to make sure it plays nice with the compatibility layer. Over time, if the SteamOS install base becomes big enough, developers may simply opt to make native Linux versions of their games.
Many Windows Users Only Stick Around for Their Games
I’ll be honest, these days the only thing keeping me on Windows are PC games. My gaming laptop and Lenovo Legion Go both run Windows because that’s where most of the PC games run best. If that changed, and I didn’t actually need Windows to run the titles in my PC gaming collection, I would likely leave it behind for good. I already use macOS as my daily driver operating system, and most desktop Linux distros could replace Windows for non-gaming users today, and they’d barely notice a difference apart from the lack of ads, forced updates, and other modern Windows tomfoolery.
Will Microsoft Say “This Is an Xbox” Once Again?
I don’t want to come across as too cynical, but as an outsider looking in on Microsoft’s gaming business, it seems the decades-long Xbox hardware experiment has failed. With Xbox hardware sales continuously declining (via GamesIndustry.biz) and the pivot to the “This Is an Xbox” campaign, where Xbox is sold more as a service than a device, it seems that the company can see the writing on the wall.
Likewise, Microsoft seems more like a software subscription and cloud services company these days. It doesn’t even enforce Windows activation, so having gamers leave its operating system for SteamOS might not faze the company much. However, I think PC gaming is a significant reason for PC users to use Windows, and it would be a little ironic if video games are the reason we finally see the year of the Linux desktop happen.
Sadly, it seems that Valve has poured cold water on this rumor (as per Gaming On Linux) so it seems it’s not to be for the time being, but if SteamOS does spread its wings, anyone could make a new generation of Steam Machines.
