Valve believes the new Steam Machine can succeed where the first models failed, and according to two senior engineers, the reason is simple: the software finally caught up, leading to a wider game catalogue.
Speaking with Rock Paper Shotgun, Yazan Aldehayyat stated that one of the reasons the original Steam Machines failed was the lack of software, as very few games were compatible with SteamOS (based on Linux), and only a few games could run well using other compatibility tools like Wine.
"We learned from the first Steam Machines that we needed to make our developers’ lives a lot easier," Aldehayyat said. "So now we have Proton, right? Which is essentially just a compatibility layer that lets games run on Linux, that are originally meant for Windows."
Pierre-Loup Griffais echoes the sentiment, saying that the small game catalogue was the reason the older Steam Machines failed, highlighting that many of the features of the new Steam Machine, such as the ease of use that's closer to a console than a PC, were already there. And with the system seeing limited adoption, developers had no incentive to develop Linux ports of their games. The work done on Proton since the launch of the Steam Deck has now ensured the new Steam Machine will have a big game catalogue from launch.
SteamOS has also been improved a lot since the launch of the original Steam Machine, and plenty of performance optimization work has been done on the operating system to improve the Steam Deck performance. For the new system, Valve has done "a tonne of work on desktop performance, ray tracing, and all that stuff," and now, it is expected that the same performance advantages introduced on Steam Deck over time after its launch with work on SteamOS will be available on the new Steam Machine as well.
With Good Software Optimization, the new Steam Machine Could Punch Well Above Its Specs
The new Valve system won't be a powerhouse exactly. Its official technical specifications, revealed earlier this week, which you can find below, position the system between the Xbox Series S and the PlayStation 5.
| Category | Specification |
|---|---|
| I/O | |
| Displays | DisplayPort 1.4: - Up to 4K @ 240Hz or 8K@60Hz - Supports HDR, FreeSync, daisy-chaining HDMI 2.0: - Up to 4K @ 120Hz - Supports HDR, FreeSync, CEC |
| USB | - Two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (front) - Two USB-A 2.0 High speed (back) - One USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (back) |
| Networking | Gigabit ethernet |
| LED Strip | 17 individually addressable RGB LEDs for system status and customization |
| Size & Weight | |
| Size | 152 mm tall (148 mm without feet), 162.4 mm deep, 156 mm wide |
| Weight | 2.6 kg |
| Software | |
| Operating System | SteamOS 3 (Arch-based) |
| Desktop | KDE Plasma |
| General | |
| CPU | Semi-custom AMD Zen 4 6 Cores /12 Threads - Up to 4.8 GHz, 30W TDP |
| GPU | Semi-custom AMD RDNA3 28 Compute Units - 2.45GHz max sustained clock, 110W TDP |
| RAM | 16GB DDR5 + 8GB GDDR6 VRAM |
| Power | Internal power supply, AC 110-240V |
| Storage | Two models, both with a high-speed microSD slot: - 512GB NVMe SSD - 2TB NVMe SSD |
| Connectivity | |
| Wi-Fi | 2x2 Wi-Fi 6E |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.3 with a dedicated antenna |
| Steam Controller | Integrated 2.4 GHz Steam Controller wireless adapter |
Although the new Steam Machine is expected to run games at 4K@60Hz, early tests suggest some games, such as Cyberpunk 2077, may struggle to hit these performance targets. The system, however, is still far from launch, and with further improvements to its software side, the new Steam Machine could deliver better performance than in its current pre-release state, although the 8 GB of VRAM is definitely a limiting factor, and will be even more so in the future.
And if the new Steam Machine becomes as popular as the Steam Deck, it wouldn't be surprising to see either presets dedicated to the machine or even Steam Machine native builds that deliver better performance, as we have seen with Baldur's Gate 3 and Cronos: The New Dawn native builds.
Price Will Determine the Steam Machine's Success
With the game catalogue issue of the original Steam Machines solved, it will likely be the price that determines the success of the Steam Machine. Valve is well aware of this, and Yazan Aldehayyat confirmed it will be very competitive. How much it will be remains to be seen, as the cost of the system when it launches early next year has yet to be confirmed.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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