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.”

source

    • Taewyth@jlai.lu
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      7 days ago

      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.

      • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        7 days ago

        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.

  • Dr. Moose@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    6 days ago

    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.

    • Sarmyth@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      6 days ago

      Ya know what’s crazy? I got a Steam link when it became available and it barely worked because my computer and router sucked more than I realized at the time. Then last year someone made a video about it and said how awesome it was and I remembered I had it and plugged it in.

      They were right! It still works great, and since I’ve upgraded everything since then, I now know my computer was the bottleneck back then. I’m curious what new features a new Steam link could add to make it worth a whole new device at this point.

  • JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    6 days ago

    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.

    • Grimpen@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      6 days ago

      There are still advantages to a fixed platform like the Steam Deck. It makes a fixed hardware platform to optimize for. Anything that runs on Deck should also run on another PC.

      Likewise, a Steam Box that was popular enough would provide a target hardware platform with higher spec.

      Most hardware manufacturers will have too high paced a release schedule, so unlikely to provide a stable hardware spec.

  • John@discuss.tchncs.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    6 days ago

    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.

  • GrindingGears@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    7 days ago

    Didnt they already try this and it flopped? Is my memory playing tricks on me?

    It would be a pretty dumb business move. It’s going to take a lot to unseat Sony and Microsoft, and the people familiar with Steam likely already have pretty powerful PCs. Case in point, the steam deck. Novelty product, it’s pretty cool, but it’s nowhere even close to unseating Nintendo Switch, let alone PS or Xbox.

    • Spezi@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      7 days ago

      Why is everyone assuming that you can only make a profit if you are the market leader? Even if you have a percent of Sony and Microsofts market share in the console market, you can still make a shit load of money of it.

      Their original steam machine failed because Steam OS didn’t have Proton yet back then, so devs had to create dedicated linux versions of their games, drastically reducing steams catalogue. Now that they have perfected proton, they beat PlayStation and Xbox with their massive amount of games across way more niche genres.

      It could easily target people that don’t want to tinker with hardware or settings on PC but still want to have all of the games that steam offers.

      • GrindingGears@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        7 days ago

        What a lot of people don’t realize though, is those consoles actually sell for a loss. 2025 is going to bring some crazy shit with it in regards to hardware pricing. Like in one aspect, ok if this thing is a decent price, and has decent performance, then yeah. But that is going to be really really hard to pull off right now. Meaning the thing is either going to be pretty crazy priced or it’s going to have lacklustre performance. In order to have good volumes of sales, you’ve got a very well established dominant two, that’s going to be hard to unseat. I dunno, I’ve been wrong before, and I’m sure I’ll be wrong again, maybe even here. But to me, that’s going to be hard to pull off.

        • Spezi@feddit.org
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          7 days ago

          But they don’t have to unseat them. Even if they sell their hardware with a profit for a higher price than the PS5, there are still plenty of people that have a large catalogue of games or people that aren’t willing to pay 60-80€ for two year old games. As long as they don’t sell at a loss, they just have to get back their R&D cost, which are significantly lower than with the steam deck, since they can just scale up their existing mainboard with a better processor and more ram.

          I’m sure a stationary console targeting high settings 1080p for current gen games with 4k through FSR could very easily be made for 300-400€ and would fit right in their lineup.

            • Spezi@feddit.org
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              6 days ago

              I explained this in my first comment above. It failed because it didn’t have any games.

              Proton wasn’t a thing back then, so only games that supported Linux worked, which were basically none, especially no AAA games. So having a console with a tiny game catalogue of indie games is bound to fail.

              It’s a total different situation to today. Now the vast majority of windows games is supported out of the box and without tinkering. I have a steam deck and apart from two games every game in my library works perfectly fine.

              Also, Steam Machines were basically just rebranded mini PCs by different manufacturers.

              With the know how and the better hardware they have today, they can make everything inhouse, streamlining optimization of their hardware and software.

        • Yozul@beehaw.org
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          6 days ago

          It’s true that Valve probably won’t want to lose money selling a hypothetical SteamOS console, but they make all their money through Steam, and people using SteamOS will probably buy a lot of games through Steam. The goal for them probably isn’t to make money from hardware sales. It would be to jump start a market for SteamOS console-like devices made by other companies, like they’re doing with the Steam Deck for handheld devices. Plus this would be mid generation, so getting PS5 level performance for a similar price wouldn’t necessarily involve losing money right now, since console manufacturers haven’t seemed real interested in price drops this gen.

    • vonbaronhans@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      7 days ago

      So, kinda. “Steam Machines” was the old initiative from 2013(?). The idea was to build a coalition of 3rd party machines with a branding and hardware guidelines for Asus, Acer, etc to build a ton of console-likes. Basically trying to replicate the PC market of diverse hardware from a bunch of OEMs to create a new market segment in the console space.

      The difference here is that Valve is allegedly building a console themselves, fully 1st party with their own hardware and software, like they did with the Steam Deck. I imagine if this one has enough market traction (as determined by Valve), they’ll iterate on the software hard for a couple of years (and possibly the controller, too), then expand with guidelines for OEMs to make their own versions of the console using SteamOS. Basically, just follow the Steam Deck playbook and hope it works like last time.

      • mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        7 days ago

        SteamOS

        the way I see it, steam machines led to SteamOS, which will lead to a true steam living room console.

    • gazter@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      7 days ago

      They did, and it did.

      However, I would suggest with the current gen consoles, the market is different. Also, you don’t need to unseat Sony and Microsoft to be able to turn a buck.

    • unfnknblvbl@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      6 days ago

      Steam Machines flopped for a whole bunch of reasons. Many of those have been fixed over the intervening years. Consoles are now all basically PCs, and the market leader runs a variant of BSD (iirc). That makes native Linux gaming a much easier thing to pull off. Then, there’s Proton which is apparently basically some kind of black magic where Windows games can run better under Linux than under Windows. There’s also much better peripheral device support than there used to be. Valve has also created a basically fixed platform with the Steamdeck (and its AMD-basef competition), meaning developers have a defined set of features they can target for a good experience.

      I’m here for this. If they can overcome the Nvidia issues, I’ll just stick my gaming rig in my loungeroom and build something smaller and cooler for my main workstation…

      • GrindingGears@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        6 days ago

        I’m here for it too, I mean my PS5 sucks and I’m sick of spending thousands of dollars on my PC. I just have some doubts about the viability, that’s all.

    • TheOgreChef@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      7 days ago

      You are not misremembering. It did give us one of the most hilariously awful controller designs (though I applaud them swinging for the fences), and it it was the precursor to the steam deck, so it wasn’t completely worthless.

      If they can take the lessons learned from their recent successes with the steam deck, I could see them making something that sticks around for a bit. There’s a market for people that want the steam ecosystem but are intimidated by PC builds or the toxic sub culture that sometimes permeates PC gamers. Having a pre-built PC with proper backing that just works out of the box with minimal tinkering could be an attractive option for some.

      • A Wild Mimic appears!@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        6 days ago

        I still have 2 Steam Controllers and 3 Steam Links at home, one of the Links and one Controller are for streaming media to my TV from my PC (the rest are spares). I very much like the Controllers for Desktop use, but they aren’t great for classic twin stick games. They excel at stuff like RTS, FPS and Simulations tho!

    • Default_Defect@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      7 days ago

      The bast majority of steam users have lower end hardware. I could see this being a good companion box for a recent steam deck owner looking for a bit more graphical grunt for their TV set up.

  • krimson@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    64
    ·
    7 days ago

    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.

    • ThrowawayOnLemmy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      48
      arrow-down
      11
      ·
      7 days ago

      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.

      • krimson@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        32
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        7 days ago

        I know that. I want something ready to go with a dedicated controller and not fiddle around with components myself that may run too hot or are too noisy etc.

          • Refurbished Refurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            16
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            7 days ago

            Pre-built PCs come with Windows and are not suited for a console-like experience out of the box like a machine with a preinstalled OS for gaming (whether that be SteamOS, Orbis (PS4/5), Horizon (Nintendo Switch), or Xbox’s OS).

            Not everyone is comfortable with installing their own OS/deleting Windows either, regardless of how easy it is.

            Something like a Steam Machine 2 can really appeal to console gamers who want to dip their toe into PC gaming while still maintaining a console-like experience.

            • Ulrich@feddit.org
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              8
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              7 days ago

              Yeah I get all of that. I’m just saying if you want to do it, you can, today. And it’s not even terribly complicated.

              • Pup Biru@aussie.zone
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                7
                ·
                7 days ago

                technically? yes

                but don’t act like it’d be the same

                aesthetics, build quality, assurance that it’d all work smoothly, the whole experience just wouldn’t be the same

                which is to say nothing about the fact that SteamOS doesn’t really work on hardware that’s dissimilar to the steamdeck… if they released a console, one would assume it would have higher specs

                • Ulrich@feddit.org
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  4
                  arrow-down
                  2
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  7 days ago

                  aesthetics, build quality, assurance that it’d all work smoothly, the whole experience just wouldn’t be the same

                  You’re right, it’d probably be way better…and it would be customized to your preferences and price point.

                  which is to say nothing about the fact that SteamOS doesn’t really work on hardware that’s dissimilar to the steamdeck…

                  You’re right again, you could use Bazzite or Nobara or Chimera and have an even better experience. Ask me how I know.

            • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              5
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              7 days ago

              Steam has big picture mode, and gives the console experience. It’s not really that difficult to install steam on a PC.

            • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              7 days ago

              Pre-built PCs come with Windows and are not suited for a console-like experience out of the box like a machine with a preinstalled OS for gaming

              It isn’t that hard to install Bazzite. Literally the hardest thing to get it working great is finding a prebuilt that uses an AMD graphics card for the driver support.

              And I’ve had people that don’t even use PC’s recommend Bazzite to me when I mention Linux. While not everyone knows what it is, you’d be surprised how much word of mouth has spread

      • brrt@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        20
        arrow-down
        7
        ·
        7 days ago

        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.

        • gazter@aussie.zone
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          7 days ago

          I would argue that’s no longer the case.

          I was a long time console gamer, for exactly the reasons you mentioned- no fiddling. I was time-poor, so I wanted to be able to slip the cartridge/disc in, and just play.

          Those days are gone, my friend. I turn my console on less and less. Every time I do, I need to download game updates. But I can’t do that unless I download the system update. I need to sign in to various networks just to be able to do this. Usually with a paid subscription.

    • Sturgist@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      7 days ago

      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.

      • Refurbished Refurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        7 days ago

        The ARM SoC work is likely for a VR headset to rival the Meta Quest line. Valve isn’t going to build a console-like PC without an x86 processor in it any time soon until x86 emulators like FEX and Box86 become more advanced and faster.

        • Pup Biru@aussie.zone
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          7 days ago

          perhaps, but Apples rosetta2 works great with crossover and games. valve just pulled proton out of nowhere: they might just decide to do the same with a hypothetical x86 translation layer

          (although i have heard that rosetta is so good because apple made some fundamental additions to the silicone to make it more x86-like so that translation performance didn’t suffer too much, which valve couldn’t do)

    • superpill@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      7 days ago

      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!

      • krimson@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        7 days ago

        Yup I’ve been doing that as well using nvidia shield but it has become very unstable as of late. Network latency and input lag is also an issue in some games unfortunately.

        • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          7 days ago

          Are you using Steam’s integrated streaming, or Moonlight/Sunshine? The latter has less lag and can handle higher resolutions, but is a pain to set up

        • superpill@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          7 days ago

          Ah that’s unfortunate.

          To clarify I use my Steam Deck in a third party dock with a LAN-port connected to my TV. I’ve had no issues at all and streamed FF7 Rebirth with 2k resolution and stable 120fps yesterday, no interruptions.