Valve’s new console, Steam Machine, has not yet been officially launched, and the outside world has begun to discuss whether it has lost its most important competitive advantage. According to GameSpot, one of the biggest selling points of Steam Machine was that it could directly run the full SteamOS and provide a simple PC gaming experience similar to a console. However, as AMD and multiple hardware manufacturers have successively launched handheld products equipped with SteamOS, this advantage is no longer exclusive to Valve.
To put it simply, Steam Machine was originally intended to play the role of a “living room version of Steam Deck”, allowing players to play Steam games directly on the TV without setting up a computer or fiddling with settings. But now there are more and more third-party devices on the market that can do similar things, so the uniqueness of Steam Machine is beginning to be diluted.
AMD handheld camp takes the lead!
Especially this year, a number of platforms using AMD hardware have successively announced support for SteamOS, allowing the ecological advantages that Valve used to hold tightly in its hands to begin to spread. For consumers, this is of course a good thing, because there are more choices; but for Steam Machine, it means that the original most attractive selling point has become a feature that the entire market can provide.
GameSpot believes that when SteamOS is no longer exclusive to Valve hardware, the next thing players will compare will be price, performance and hardware specifications, rather than the system itself. The problem is that the Steam Machine is currently priced at US$1,049 (approximately NT$30,600, HK$8,240, and RM4,450), which is quite expensive compared to many handheld or DIY PC solutions.
Steam Deck’s success model may not be replicable
The Steam Deck was successful back then, largely because it created a new market for portable Steam gaming experiences. There were few truly mature competitors at the time, so Valve had a clear first-mover advantage. However, Steam Machine faces a completely different situation. Nowadays, not only are there a large number of Windows handheld consoles, but also more and more SteamOS devices are joining the competition. Players no longer need to purchase official Valve hardware to get a similar experience.
The real test has just begun
Of course, it’s too early to call the Steam Machine a failure. Valve’s influence on the PC gaming platform is still amazing, and the continued expansion of the SteamOS ecosystem is what Valve hopes to see. But for this new device, which was originally regarded as the savior of PCs in the living room, when the biggest selling point has become a function that everyone has, whether players are willing to spend more than a thousand dollars to buy it may be the key to determining its fate.