I never liked the term “console war”. Leaving aside the dubious taste of combining consoles with conflict, the metaphor of war doesn't really work for the fight between platform owners. This competition is not about changing lines of interaction or managing supply lines and materiel; it is much more driven by the twists, turns and sudden turns of the narrative.
I guess “console wrestling” doesn't roll off the tongue so easily. But how much more like the spectacle of a fight than the dirty horrors of war that Valve slid into the ring and aimed squarely at the kneecaps of an already faltering Microsoft?
Valve may plead their innocence and point out that they are simply building on its existing hardware strategy taking advantage of the chipsets and technologies that became available, but the timing couldn't have been more disruptive.
Microsoft is in the midst of bulky and complex rod for the entire Xbox brand and platform, which aims to merge it with Windows and turning Xbox's hardware offerings into a range of console PC devices that connect to Xbox game libraries and Game Pass subscriptions. The details of the main parts of this strategy remain unclear, but it has recently produced some results. very expensive portable PCs under the Xbox brand along with some hints that next-gen Xbox hardware will be same as premium price Personalized PCs with full Windows capabilities.
Valve's new Steam Machine shares some of this conceptual DNA – it's a dedicated PC that will function as a console and allow owners to access their Steam libraries. While Microsoft has hinted at a premium price, Valve's device appears to be aimed at mass market accessibility, sports chipsets similar in performance to current high-end consoles, and will likely be priced very competitively with them.
However, lower specs don't mean the Steam Machine won't be highly competitive. It has two major advantages over Microsoft's intended device, both of which are unique to Valve: the Steam distribution platform and the unsung hero of the PC gaming revolution, SteamOS.
The advantage provided by Steam itself is quite obvious. It has been the dominant computer game distribution platform for over two decades; Consequently, even relatively casual PC gamers tend to have fairly extensive Steam libraries. While it's entirely possible that Microsoft's future Xbox hardware will allow you to jump to the Windows desktop and install Steam, the appeal of a budget-friendly console device that will have your entire Steam library right there when you log in is extremely hard to beat.
Remember when the Xbox Series X/S started to falter after strong early sales? At the time, Microsoft executives hinted that the failures of the Xbox One generation would be impossible to recover from because it was an era in which console owners had amassed large digital libraries that they couldn't escape. It will indeed be a bitter pill for Microsoft if Valve continues to do the same to them in this nascent hybrid PC/console space. However, it is difficult to imagine history not repeating itself.
There is also SteamOS. Valve's Linux-based gaming operating system was quite adventurous when the company first embarked on this project, but over the years, the effort and resources the company has put into this project have been extraordinary. The OS itself, and Proton's layer of emulation that allows it to run Windows games virtually without glitches, is a technical marvel and gives Valve a huge advantage.
Despite all the improvements Microsoft has made to Windows' performance as a gaming platform, the reality is that it still imposes a very significant overhead on gaming devices. Even with the need for an emulation layer, Valve OS consistently outperforms Windows in gaming tests on similar hardware. In the real world, this means Valve can release a relatively inexpensive console that runs on older hardware and still deliver solid gaming performance – something Microsoft will have to seriously contend with if, as expected, it turns the next Xbox into a software layer running on top of Windows.
This is not hypothetical; This is exactly the situation that has been developing on the Steam Deck for the past few years. This device is underpowered compared to many other laptops, including expensive Xbox-branded devices. But while its competitors often fail to handle gaming loads, Steam Deck rarely does, thanks to its lightweight, highly optimized OS and a well-executed program of working with developers to create reasonable default settings for Steam Deck owners.
The Steam Deck essentially became an incredible testing ground for Valve to figure out exactly how to approach this market. The idea of ​​devices that would bridge the gap between PC and console has been around for decades (Valve even previously made an unsuccessful attempt with the original Steam Machine devices), but the Steam Deck gave the most powerful company in the PC gaming space the opportunity to figure out what the missing pieces of the puzzle were and, if necessary, build those pieces from scratch.
Although Steam Deck was never a commercial blockbuster, the foundation it laid for the Steam Machine is very strong. The Steam Deck does feel like a console, but plays most of a PC's game library without issue and delivers great performance on fairly limited hardware specs. Applying the same lessons and approach to a home console with a little more specs seems like a guaranteed winner for Valve.
Of course, there are still questions that need to be answered. First, we make significant assumptions about competitive pricing. There's also a reasonable question mark over Valve's willingness or ability to engage in the massive marketing campaign that typically accompanies console launches. With the Steam Deck, Valve seemed to want the hardware to speak for itself; Commendable to some extent, this approach is not entirely compatible with mass market ambitions.
Still, it's hard not to see this as a truly significant turning point for the industry – and a very welcome one, as a new, aggressive player enters the emerging console space just as people are starting to worry about a potential decline in competition in the face of Microsoft's problems. For Microsoft, which is already in a tight spot in the console space (though as a third-party publisher of course still in great shape), Valve's entry into the ring is absolutely the last team it wanted to see – not least because the arrival of SteamOS might even remove its fig leaf from claiming that PC gaming is still entirely Windows-centric.
It's hard not to see this as a truly significant turning point for the industry.
This is also a new serious challenge for Sony. Valve's entry into—or renewed involvement in—the hardware space makes it a competitor on multiple fronts. Besides the Steam Machine, which falls into roughly the same category as the PS5, the company also has the Steam Deck, which will undoubtedly get a new boost this generation once the right chipset arrives. Steam Deck may not be much of a sleep disruptor for Nintendo, but it could be a serious competitor Rumored Sony portable device nevertheless. Valve even starts new virtual reality headset this seems like a much bigger move in a market that Sony has never really pursued other than as a side hobby.
Increasing competition in the console market is a very good thing, and the prospect of Valve making a truly serious gamble to become a platform holder on a large scale should set the cats among the flocks of pigeons across the industry. The console market in 2026 and beyond has become much more interesting; a dramatic turn that owes much more to the spectacle of the ring than to the routine of war.
