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When Steam Tried to Build a Games Console

When Steam Tried to Build a Games Console

In the world of gaming, three big names dominated the console space for the last three decades. These are Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. These companies have fought off competition from veterans of gaming like Atari and SEGA. Both of which bowed out of creating hardware after a series of devices that were commercial failures. 

Even the big three companies fumble every now and then, though. For example, Nintendo’s Wii U didn’t make many waves when it was released in late 2012. While, its Virtual Boy VR console was withdrawn from sale after less than a year in the 1990s. 

Sony also made some missteps with its PlayStation 3. While it recovered towards the end of its lifecycle, the console saw the Japanese company lose ground to Microsoft’s Xbox 360. It was due to a delayed release, higher price tag, and complicated architecture that made developing PS3 games very difficult. The company’s PSP was also not a major hit, although it was commercially successful. 

With so many high barriers to entry, you would probably be surprised to hear of a new manufacturer trying to enter the games console market. Yet, this is exactly what Valve Corporation, the company behind Steam, did in late 2015. 

Steam Machine

Known as the Steam Machine, this was a small (much smaller than other consoles) box designed to allow users of the company’s Steam gaming platform a more console-like experience. 

However, by early 2018, the company had removed references to the Steam Machine from its website. It also announced that they were going to focus efforts elsewhere. Ultimately, this led to the creation of the handheld Steam Deck in 2021 which has enjoyed more success. 

Chances are, you didn’t even know about the Steam Machine. So, let’s look at what it was, why it was created, and its legacy today. 

The Steam Machine Made Perfect Sense at the Time

The Steam Machine was a product designed to help Valve remain competitive in a world where PC gaming became incredibly competitive.

Computer players already have the most choice of titles. In addition to the AAA games, they can purchase through Steam or via a physical retailer. There’s a near-infinite number of online games they can enjoy. 

For example, online casinos give players access to thousands of different titles. These include multiple variants of classic card games like blackjack. Instead of a single version, they cater to a wider spectrum of users with classic, premium, and high roller options. These offer different limits, numbers of hands, and side bets. 

On top of that, platforms like Crazy Games give players access to tens of thousands of unique titles like Ball Blast, Smash Karts, and Jet Rush. Meanwhile, backward compatibility from decades of PC releases means computer users have millions of games to choose from. 

Valve saw an even bigger threat emerge in 2012 after Microsoft released Windows 8 with a more integrated digital marketplace, similar to Apple’s App Store, and restrictions on third-party applications. The company’s CEO even called it a “catastrophe for everyone in the PC space”. 

Therefore, the Steam Machine was a way to take back some of this control. 

What Was in the Steam Machine?

The Steam Machine was not a single product, but rather an umbrella term for devices with at least a minimum specification of hardware. They all ran Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS and had the company’s marketplace natively integrated. 

See Also

When it went on sale in 2015, the Steam Machine had at least 16 GB of memory, a high-end Intel Core i5/i7 CPU, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 graphics card. This was a solid bit of kit at the time and would have made light work of most games on the market. 

Players would also use the specially-designed Steam Controller which was there to bridge the gap between keyboard-focused PC games and the more traditional console input experience. 

Legacy

As we know, the Steam Machine was a flop. Likely, the reason for its failure is simply because it was serving a market that doesn’t really exist. Generally, if you’re using Steam, it’s because you want to play games on your PC. 

PC gamers are, traditionally, heavily invested in the computer form factor and the freedom they have to swap out components. The Steam Machine, however, didn’t deliver any of this. It also didn’t provide the level of simplicity that traditional console gamers look for, meaning it catered to practically no one. 

That said, it was a necessary first step for Valve as it helped the company on its way to developing the more successful Steam Deck. On top of that, many of the features in this handheld device originated in the Steam Controller, including the gyroscopic input that makes navigation easier. 

The compatibility of SteamOS and the Steam Deck are also much better today thanks to the efforts that went into creating the Steam Machine.

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