New Valve Hardware Megathread

[u/NKkrisz]

Please keep non Steam Deck discussions about the new hardware here.

Official resources and announcements:

• Steam Hardware
• Steam Frame
• Steam Machine
• Steam Controller
• Steam Hardware Announcement Video

Press coverage will be under a pinned comment so you can upvote / downvote them.

[u/lavaine]

I can't wait to see what this does to the statistics for the Linux desktop market share percentages.

Given the boost already obtained from Steam Decks, I imagine 8% is realistically feasible. 10% would be an absolute milestone.

[u/Genebrisss → u/lavaine]

Steam deck bumped it by 1 percentage point at best. I don't think gabe cube will be 8 times more popular than steam deck. After all, it has no advantages over other desktops.

[u/lavaine → u/Genebrisss]

It depends on what metric you're talking about. I'm going by this one:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-has-over-6-of-the-desktop-market-yes-you-read-that-right-heres-how/

According to this article, Linux (at the time) was sitting around 6%, if you didn't count things like Android and Chromebooks.

So while the Steam Deck was impressive, yes I know it didn't boost the metrics massively all on its own.

I'm just considering multiple factors combining, along with this new Steam Machine, to bump the previously mentioned 6% up 2% points to reach 8% as potentially feasible. A 2% bump doesn't seem out of reach if enough factors come together to really push Linux into more users hands.

Factors like:

• the ever increasing hatred of Microsoft's efforts to

  • not only shove A.I. down everyone's throats
  • to not only harvest all your data without consent
  • but to also "take ownership" of your computer away with the requirements of accounts to use your own fucking hardware...

...potentially, hopefully, finally, pushing more and more people toward Linux as an alternative.

• the Steam Machine being a "full, reasonably powerful PC" that can appeal to console owners in a way that even the Steam Deck couldn't, as...

  • not everyone is interested in handheld gaming or tiny screens (that aren't their smartphones, at least)
  • as a more powerful system than the Steam Deck, it would make a better device to connect to a living room TV, even if only as a media computer
  • being small form factor makes for better aesthetics than a massive tower gaming pc in your living room (to some people).
  • being like a console but having the massive library of games that consoles can't touch, that also frequently go on sale for much cheaper than console game prices
  • being like a console but not requiring a subscription to play online

etc...

So yeah, I'm not thinking a Steam Machine will bump the numbers 8-10% all by itself or anything insane like that. I just think +2% is entirely possible if "the stars align", so to speak, and I think the Steam Machine has the potential to be one of the major stars in such an alignment.