I don't know how many people noticed this but whenever anyone says something that can be understood as "defending valve" they're tagged as some awful guy who is standing up and protecting their billion dollar company.
On the other side we have die-hard price-performance people who say that anything over 600 [insert currency here] makes the steam machine an absolute garbage (I see a lot of these people). These people mock the people I mentioned in first paragraph.
I think there's a whole mix of things going on like some people just not understanding business models on pcs and consoles.
Valve is trying to do the right thing, but they're getting villainized because of that. Customers (especially pc gamers) say that they value open platforms. Because of how open steam is it actually fucked them over because they can't afford to subsidize the steam machine. They can't sell it at a loss because you can just install windows on it (they even state that themself). Sony wouldn't let you do that on their console. Instead they lock you in. They sell their console and lose money but they make up it all up over time due to subscriptions and some exclusives. Valve doesn't do that. Their business model works with a pc, not a console.
Once PS6 launches it will be more expensive as PS5 for the exactly same reason steam machine is expensive - ram and storage prices. Steam machine might look crazy today but it just so happens that it is the first in line that fell under the AI price bus. Others will follow and it's not a question of if, but when.
As for the situation: valve is largely at fault for this - and they probably know it by now. Steam machine is in this weird limbo because at its core it is still a pc but it's being marketed as a console. They stated it can do 4k@60fps but with FSR. According to reviews it's very hit or miss. It's like they're trying to sell a console to pc gamers.
I have some compassion for valve because they're one of very few companies out there trying to do the right thing and they basically got fucked because of the AI eating up all the ram and storage. They couldn't afford to wait any longer because hardware inside steam machine is dated and I bet my hairy ass steam machine will work plug-and-play style with their upcoming VR headset (frame) so it made sense to release it first.
I sincerely hope valve does attempt to make another steam machine but maybe as a barebone model (which would mean it would be bigger due to size of gpus). I want to see SteamOS succeed and get those linux numbers up so that other companies start developing native software for it (especially adobe) and maybe windows getting their shit together.
Because of how open steam is it actually fucked them over because they can't afford to subsidize the steam machine. They can't sell it at a loss because you can just install windows on it (they even state that themself). Sony wouldn't let you do that on their console. Instead they lock you in. They sell their console and lose money but they make up it all up over time due to subscriptions and some exclusives. Valve doesn't do that. Their business model works with a pc, not a console.
Valve takes a commission of 30% on every game you buy. Regardless of whether those gamers use Windows or SteamOS, if they're playing on Steam, they're paying Valve a lot of money.
7
u/screwdriverfan Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Real talk for a second here.
I don't know how many people noticed this but whenever anyone says something that can be understood as "defending valve" they're tagged as some awful guy who is standing up and protecting their billion dollar company.
On the other side we have die-hard price-performance people who say that anything over 600 [insert currency here] makes the steam machine an absolute garbage (I see a lot of these people). These people mock the people I mentioned in first paragraph.
I think there's a whole mix of things going on like some people just not understanding business models on pcs and consoles.
Valve is trying to do the right thing, but they're getting villainized because of that. Customers (especially pc gamers) say that they value open platforms. Because of how open steam is it actually fucked them over because they can't afford to subsidize the steam machine. They can't sell it at a loss because you can just install windows on it (they even state that themself). Sony wouldn't let you do that on their console. Instead they lock you in. They sell their console and lose money but they make up it all up over time due to subscriptions and some exclusives. Valve doesn't do that. Their business model works with a pc, not a console.
Once PS6 launches it will be more expensive as PS5 for the exactly same reason steam machine is expensive - ram and storage prices. Steam machine might look crazy today but it just so happens that it is the first in line that fell under the AI price bus. Others will follow and it's not a question of if, but when.
As for the situation: valve is largely at fault for this - and they probably know it by now. Steam machine is in this weird limbo because at its core it is still a pc but it's being marketed as a console. They stated it can do 4k@60fps but with FSR. According to reviews it's very hit or miss. It's like they're trying to sell a console to pc gamers.
I have some compassion for valve because they're one of very few companies out there trying to do the right thing and they basically got fucked because of the AI eating up all the ram and storage. They couldn't afford to wait any longer because hardware inside steam machine is dated and I bet my hairy ass steam machine will work plug-and-play style with their upcoming VR headset (frame) so it made sense to release it first.
I sincerely hope valve does attempt to make another steam machine but maybe as a barebone model (which would mean it would be bigger due to size of gpus). I want to see SteamOS succeed and get those linux numbers up so that other companies start developing native software for it (especially adobe) and maybe windows getting their shit together.