Valve has been on a bit of a roll lately. The Steam Deck was a massive success, and Steam is more dominant than ever as the ultimate PC gaming storefront. When Valve announced a successor to its ancient, last-gen Steam Machine lineup, like many, I too was excited for its eventual release, only to be met with immediate disappointment when its $1049 price tag was revealed.
The Steam Machine might not be a runaway success (as is evident from its inflated pricing and middling performance), but it’s probably not part of Valve’s plan, anyway. SteamOS is the real deal here, not the hardware. Even if there are some things you can only do with Valve’s hardware.
In the long scheme of things, the Steam Machine is just a stepping stone
SteamOS is what makes it kick
Let’s get one thing out of the way — as it stands right now, the Steam Machine has terrible value. It’s weak, overpriced, and certainly not appealing to even ex-console players, and there’s not much that Valve can do about it.
It’s unfortunate, but the current situation is truly awful, and the prices of PC components are through the roof. Even then, it’s possible to easily build a Steam Machine competitor using new parts that can absolutely steamroll it. You can even slap SteamOS on it, which is now publicly available.
Which is kind of the exact point — SteamOS is the real deal, and the Steam Machine will not matter as much in the long term. In addition to being an excellent Linux gaming distribution, SteamOS is also a portal to Valve’s Steam storefront. It’s an easy way to push you into the Steam ecosystem (and storefront) while promising a console-like experience unmatched in the PC space at the moment.
SteamOS is entirely free to download and keep, and lets anyone spin up their own Steam Machine (provided they have compatible hardware, that is) with minimal effort. This also means there’s nothing stopping companies from selling their own Steam Machines, bundled with SteamOS instead of Windows. Or even handhelds.
And to that end, we’ve already seen a few Steam Machine competitors hit the market recently. It might seem like a great deal, but hear me out: Valve is the real winner here in the long run.
It’s through SteamOS that Valve pushes its Steam marketplace, and it’s also a way to push you into buying games off Steam. While there’s nothing stopping you from installing third-party games, it will never be as seamless as getting it directly through Steam. Which is perhaps why we are seeing so many proprietary launchers being ported over to Steam right now, and Proton’s list of supported games seems to be ever-growing.
It’s the little things that matter
The closest a PC can get to a console
Of course, SteamOS is only part of the equation. The Steam Machine is purpose-built and offers a small-form-factor design that sips power and stays quiet — in addition to first-party support from Valve.
Sure, a DIY Steam Machine might be faster, but it will also be a lot bulkier and noisier. The Steam Machine will also consume a fraction of its power, and more importantly, will have full SteamOS hardware support.
This means things like quick resume/suspend “just work”, and external system updates (including the BIOS and firmware) will be managed by Valve themselves, which is a level of integration you simply cannot achieve on a DIY system.
The Steam Machine also offers a “console-like” experience, is compatible with most TVs, and supports HDMI CEC out of the box. HDMI CEC is perhaps the biggest draw for me, since getting it up and running on x86 machines is nothing short of a nightmare.
If you’re familiar with PC hardware, build your own Steam Machine, but it won’t be perfect
If you’re knowledgeable about computers and are comfortable making your own system, this probably never was the system for you to begin with. The Steam Machine is, if you ask me, aimed at first-time PC gamers who are looking for an easy way to game without all the headache of managing a desktop operating system.
In other words, something similar to a console or a pre-built. Building something as efficient as the Steam Machine with the same form factor will cost you about the same, and it still won’t have niceties like HDMI CEC working right out of the gate.
I’m confident that the Steam Machine will gradually become a favorite over the next few years. It’s a great entry-level gaming machine that can also double-duty as a complete, functional desktop PC.
It’s just that the price happens to be really terrible and unquestionably unfortunate. Maybe grab it in a year or two when prices finally drop (if they ever do!). Even then, Valve has covered their goalposts with SteamOS, and it no longer really depends on the Steam Machine to succeed.