Valve aims to make new steam engine succeed where original failed

Valve is launching a new Steam machine next year, but if you have a good memory, you'll remember that this isn't the company's first attempt at bringing PC gaming into the living room. The original Steam Machine line of mini PCs launched in 2015, but poor sales eventually led to the devices' quiet retirement. So what can be done to stop history from repeating itself? According to Valve, a better video game catalog and efforts to make it easier for developers when porting games to the new Steam Machine are some of the key factors the company is focusing on.

“We learned from the first Steam machine that we needed to make developers' lives easier. So now we have Proton, right? It's essentially just a compatibility layer that allows games that were originally meant for Windows to run on Linux,” said engineer Yazan Aldehayyat. stone paper shotgun.

“Yes, I think it does have something to do with the game catalog,” added fellow engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais. “Being able to control the TV, launch games directly, launch games and install them means you don't have to install drivers, or clean up the system after installing and uninstalling a few games – all those elements are there. We just don't have a really compelling library of games.”

Griffais explained that developers also want to make sure there's an audience for their games to justify the effort involved in porting a game, and that Valve is committed to creating a machine that can run games reliably and deliver impressive performance. in another interviewGriffith mentioned that Valve's goal is to make PC games “work better” in living rooms, a space traditionally dominated by video game consoles.

Steam Machine is currently scheduled to launch in 2026 with New Steam Controller and Steam Frame VR Headset—However, its pricing has not yet been announced. Valve says it wants Steam machines to be “affordable” and an industry expert Believe the price “sweet spot” may be $400.