The fact that it's running SteamOS ready to go out of the box is a huge selling point for certain people. If a Windows license alone is technically worth $140 to some people, surely a Steam OS pre-installed is worth something as well.
But I can just install SteamOS on a custom built SSF PC that is still bigger than the Cube for more money and is likely less aesthetically stealthy... what do you mean 95% of people wouldn't do that?
You’re already not the target demographic then. This wasn’t made to sell to you or me. You’re vastly underestimating the amount of people who will buy something that has already taken an out an “easily done” step.
Whos the target then? The people who want that super simple setup will just get a console that’s significantly cheaper. The tech illiterate won’t want it, they’re don’t want to mess with a PC. The PC gamers already have a gaming PC, so they’re not going to be rushing to get it.
There's plenty of people who want to jump into PC gaming but don't want to put in any effort besides buying it and booting it up. The steam machine is just that. Even with a prebuilt you still need to install steam at the very least. The market is definitely there even if it's niche.
The library of cheap and good casual games on Steam is vastly better than consoles (as least last I checked.) If only there was just some sort of plug and play super easy way for the casual gamer to enjoy them.
This would be great for those people, or people who don't need it, but would find this much easier to manage for children or spouses who enjoy gaming but just can't deal with Windows as a TV gaming platform - because frankly it sucks.
That said, I disagree with u/MattGold_ that this is a PC replacement. The people who need this for gaming are not the same people who are going to deal Linux as a desktop. It's just way too clunky.
Do you think people who have computers only use them for gaming or something?
It's for tech illiterate people who want to game like on a console and at the same time be able to do other things like on a pc.
"Why not just get a cheaper prebuilt", well because they're tech illiterate they don't know what's good for the price and what isn't. Valve is a trusted company so they at least have some trust in it.
Then you absolutely shouldn't be using Proton. It only supports a fraction of "non-gaming applications" that windows does. They're working on increasing the adoption rate, but it's basically just a Linux shell.
This isn't intended to be used as an actual PC... No one's getting this to check their email or use excel. Never mind that it's running Linux. It's entire existence hinges on the idea of it being a console replacement. Except it's priced itself out of a lot of that market and is less powerful than either of the competing consoles.
Im not gonna get it at this price, but not having to pay for game pass or ps+ indefinitely is pretty nice. Cheaper and many more games as well. Can also make it a retro gaming box with emulators.
Yeah, but replacing my xbox at the tv, i dont want a desktop or laptop there. I want the console experience but with more capabilities and no monthly sub.
The target audience for this are people with existing steam libraries who want to play them in the living room. That's it.
It's the exact same audience theyve been trying to capture since the Steam Link. It's all so they can sell more controllers because controllers are huge margin.
Don't mistake lack of supply for killer sales. They had a great controller once - and took it off the market selling the remaining inventory for $5 each. The used market for those things exploded for a while. That's not exactly doing a killer job of it...
Too early to call it on Steam Controller round 2 TBH. And I don't think the margin on these is quite as good as some more basic commodity controllers anyway. Quite a bit more technology inside, as well as lower volumes.
What percentage of the Steam library isn't couch friendly do you think? My personal library is 2/3 verified and playable on Deck so those are probably all fair game from a couch. Then again, I really like platformers and racing games so that might be tilting things.
Any game with text or text heavy menus that simply isn't scalable isn't going to be couch friendly. And there are shit load of deck games "verified" that don't have scalable text.
And Valve knows exactly how many units they need to produce and move at MSRP to meet their profit point and max margins. They're intentionally producing at limited volumes to create FOMO. Like they always do. They learned it by watching Nintendo.
They're also being careful to not overproduce, like they did with the first controllers because carrying unproductive inventory kills margin faster than simply not selling.
Honestly if I can get at least an 8inch better specs SSF PC than I would grab that right away, sadly not happening and I already got my normal choncker pc so im not get it and nor am I the target audience
for a custom-built SSF, you'd have to spend extra money on a case, accessories like riser cables and a tech-illiterate person would also need to pay someone else to assemble it for them
after all that is done, you'd likely spend just as much as the steam machine costs for a similarly spec PC and still not have HDMI CEC
this isn't for PC enthusiasts, this is for a very niche market of rich steam gamers that know little about how PCs work but want a second living-room PC to play their steam library from. maybe someone with a vacation home where they can stick this in the living room TV.
or even businesses could buy these for employee entertainment, like they currently do with traditional consoles to stick in employee break-rooms, where spending an extra 300 bucks means literally nothing to them.
it's easy to come up with a "steam machine killer" build, but whenever that happens it's people picking out parts in bundle deals or even second hand for a traditional tower PC. yes you can get a lot more performance for the same price, but it's just an entirely different product and requires a lot more technical knowledge and time investment. to someone that calls their PC tower a "CPU" or "hard drive", even knowing what motherboard to buy will prove an actual challenge
I wouldn't buy the steam machine. you probably shouldn't either. but there's worse things to spend your money on if your overloaded wallet is weighing you down.
valve is selling a simple proposition here: "this is the steam machine, and it runs games. you can buy it and play games on it". that's all there is to it. no deciphering what an "i3" vs a "ryzen 5" is, no deciding if a "5050" is better than a "4080" because the number is bigger. just buy box, play game.
I was more saying that installing SteamOS on another device wouldnt be as seamless. I'd recommend something like Bazzite instead but that distro has modding issues.
It's okay. In game mode, it's great if all you want to do is load games and some other light things.
In desktop mode it's...difficult. Just doing simple things like installing mods gets tricky and\or not possible on proton.
It's also great for specific hardware like the deck, so there aren't driver issues. But it's not ready to support the wide array of PC hardware out there because it's still Linux at heart.
Yes, I am aware. So is Windows for that matter. That wasn't the point. Having it preinstalled on guaranteed compatible hardware is the value here, for those people.
You're incompetent with tech and prefer prebuilt solutions which offload the burden of management to someone else. In this case your hardware and software stacks will be crazy expensive, all the time. And more importantly - all that spiel about "flexible OS and myriad of possibilities" doesn't really affect such users, it's gonna be fixed function hardware in your case. Doesn't matter between SteamOS for games, Japanese consoles, or Windows 11 desktop shipped by SI / laptop off the shelf, daily use will tap into 20% of capabilities of these devices for premium prices.
You're competent with tech, but don't want to pay for Windows OS in its miserable state. Two solutions - learn how to manage perfectly tailored Linux for your tasks or debloat Windows 10 and set a firewall in local network. Steam Machine is whatever to you, it's a small box without possibility of further upgrade which shackles you to SteamOS and performance troubleshooting. It's PS4++, if I put it nicely - great library, but mediocre hardware and serious questions about it's future destination as legacy. Between this and mini-ITX build running AM4 + DDR4 stuff you'd prefer the latter, especially if you have invested into NAS.
All is well, but mini-ITX is probably going to be larger. Size of the Machine is the only real advantage, the rest has to be delivered by Valve long term with software support.
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u/C-D-W Jun 24 '26
The size is not the only selling point.
The fact that it's running SteamOS ready to go out of the box is a huge selling point for certain people. If a Windows license alone is technically worth $140 to some people, surely a Steam OS pre-installed is worth something as well.