Valve's new Steam hardware was designed based on the team's experience in PC gaming, rather than comparisons with other console makers such as PlayStation or Xbox.
The company has New Steam hardware announced todaynamely the standalone Steam Frame VR headset, Steam Machine console and Steam controller. But rather than entering the console market to compete with established companies, Valve's new hardware represents an evolution in PC gaming.
“We usually just go by our own experiences playing PC games and what we'd like to do, as well as what we hear from our users,” Casey Aitchison Boyle of Valve's PR team told Eurogamer.
“Computer games have great value. There are a lot of game genres that started on the PC because it's an open platform where people can modify and experiment and do things that aren't necessarily possible if software distribution is restricted in some way.”
She added: “We don't really tend to get distracted by what's going on elsewhere and try to focus on our audience.”
Microsoft just released the ROG Ally X laptop in partnership with Asus and appears to be a direct competitor to Valve's Steam Deck.
“If anything, we're kind of encouraged that other people are looking at handhelds, handhelds, because we see them as more options for people who want to play all their games,” Aitchison Boyle said.
“So we see it as a sign of success that the Steam Deck has actually become something that is very meaningful and valuable to customers. If SteamOS allows us to apply the same dynamics to a set-top box or living room form factor, we'd be very happy about that too.”
Valve's new Steam hardware will be released next year, although release dates are still unknown. If you're hoping to have it all, know that Valve will continue to distribute hardware independently, as it did with Steam Deck..
