Debunk from dev Pierre-Loup Griffais @plagman.bsky.social
“we’ve done pre-release Mesa Vulkan work on every AMD architecture since Vega thanks to them kindly providing hardware, so there’s nothing meaningful to read into there.”
What does Valve actually need: sell a x86 SoC PC for extra-extra cheap… barely capable to run 720p60fpd high quality, and extremely well optimized, videogames such as Resident Evil4 Remake and latest Doom, bundle the SoC with those games to the point it may look as you’re just buying regular bundled games but the PC to run it comes for free.
IE: 140€ to get Resident Evil Remake 2,3 and 4 for +the SoC: You just need to add the disk space (MictoSD/SSD) to download&run OS+games.
IE: 140€
Dude, you can’t even build a Raspberry Pi 5 based Retropie for that price. And the most you could run is emulated Gamecube games
Not a build, what I am thinking it’s exactly as a raspberryPi5 is, just slightly more powerful. The idea is to kickstart sort of DIY PC console, in which Valve sell you just the very bare bones (CPU/GPU/ram and only strictly necessary I/O, just like the RPI5 board) + some key license for games to test things out, then anybody can build up whatever they want, even plugging an external GPU if so they desire.
Dude, no. A Raspberry Pi 5 is less powerful than a Steam Deck across the board. The only reason it could run DOOM at 4k in that video is because the guy hooked it up to an external GPU, and that external GPU costs several times more that a new Raspberry Pi.
Also, the Raspberry Pi 5 doesn’t come with an SSD. If you’re going to build your own boxed similar to what you’re proposing, you’d need to buy a Raspberry Pi + SSD + case + interface cards between the parts that’ll cost an addition $50-60. You’re looking at around $300 for parts. Any commercial product would also have to factor in labor and some margin for profits.
At this point you’re looking at a product that costs about the same as a base-model Steam Deck that isn’t portable and has less computing power for playing games. Virtually no one would buy that.
If Valve did release a non-portable PC, they might use a higher-power version of the Steam Deck’s APU at similar price points to the Steam Deck, filling the space that used to be occupied by Intel NUCs. But whatever they do, a non-portable system from them cannot be weaker than a Steam Deck. It would be completely rejected by most customers on that alone. And it cannot be dependent on an external GPU since those are a waste of money compared to just building a PC.
This rumor has been going around for a few months now, mostly because of some commits targeting new unknown hardware to SteamOS afaik.
I hope the rumor is true, I love my steamdeck but something a bit more powerful that allows me to play Steam games in 4k on my TV would be awesome. If they run the same exact OS as on the steamdeck you could even do stuff like ad-free youtube using Firefox.
I know this isn’t exactly what you mean, but I use the Remote Play function to stream games from my PC to my living room TV, it works like a charm!
Yup I’ve been doing that as well using nvidia shield but it has become very unstable as of late. Network latency and input lag is also an issue in some games unfortunately.
Are you using Steam’s integrated streaming, or Moonlight/Sunshine? The latter has less lag and can handle higher resolutions, but is a pain to set up
but something a bit more powerful that allows me to play Steam games in 4k on my TV would be awesome.
I got news for you! You can literally build a computer to do this right now, no need to wait for steam.
Do you want some eggs? I got news for you! You can literally build a chicken shed right now, no need to wait for farmers.
Seriously, the same captain obvious answer all the time when a Steam console is mentioned. It’s infuriating. Consoles exist for a reason, to provide a ready and verified environment for playing games without any fiddling.
Can I build a chicken? That’s the real question…
Please don’t fuck a chicken
I know that. I want something ready to go with a dedicated controller and not fiddle around with components myself that may run too hot or are too noisy etc.
Good news: pre-built PCs are also a thing.
Pre-built PCs come with Windows and are not suited for a console-like experience out of the box like a machine with a preinstalled OS for gaming (whether that be SteamOS, Orbis (PS4/5), Horizon (Nintendo Switch), or Xbox’s OS).
Not everyone is comfortable with installing their own OS/deleting Windows either, regardless of how easy it is.
Something like a Steam Machine 2 can really appeal to console gamers who want to dip their toe into PC gaming while still maintaining a console-like experience.
Pre-built PCs come with Windows and are not suited for a console-like experience out of the box like a machine with a preinstalled OS for gaming
It isn’t that hard to install Bazzite. Literally the hardest thing to get it working great is finding a prebuilt that uses an AMD graphics card for the driver support.
And I’ve had people that don’t even use PC’s recommend Bazzite to me when I mention Linux. While not everyone knows what it is, you’d be surprised how much word of mouth has spread
I’m not sure what would be the point. Isn’t it “just” a PC with Steam OS running on it? Would it be to help people just default to SteamOS?
Having a popular, standardized pc with fixed hardware and OS would enable game developers to aim that as minimum(or recommended) requirement and to optimize their games for that. And since it will be running linux, this means that gaming in linux would become even more mainstream and better supported too.
Also being theoretically not portable, it could be more powerful than the Steam Deck making emulation even easier.
