Punching Sony, Kicking Microsoft: Steam Deck Released, Is the Console War Entering the Second Half?
“Ten years to forge a sword” is often used as a metaphor for those who delve deeply into their studies, practice diligently, and finally make a triumphant return. And today, a gaming console that has been “in the making for ten years” has shaken up the entire gaming market - not because of its high - end performance configuration, but because the manufacturer behind it has a name that gamers are extremely familiar with: Steam.
On November 13th, Valve officially announced the new - generation Steam Machine, a gaming console with performance comparable to that of the PS5 but only half its size.
Image | Steam
If you've been following the gaming console market for a long time, you might have some impression of the name Steam Machine. As early as ten years ago, Valve launched a gaming console called Steam Machine:
Image | TheVerge
However, this small console with a built - in GTX Titan failed to go into mass production, and the Alienware Alpha console that Valve later collaborated with Alienware on also received mediocre feedback. It wasn't until the launch of the Steam Deck in 2022 that Valve truly established itself in the gaming hardware market.
However, just two years after establishing its foothold, Valve is making a comeback with the Steam Machine, and this time it's likely to succeed.
In short, Valve has released a total of three pieces of hardware this time:
The Steam Machine, a cube - shaped gaming console with a 15 - cm side length
The Steam Frame, a VR headset focusing on streaming
The new Steam Controller, a controller equipped with dual touchpads
Among them, the most attention - grabbing one is undoubtedly this cube - shaped console that resembles the NeXT computer.
Image | X @valvesoftware
Valve Enters the Console War
According to the introduction on the Steam official website, the new Steam Machine is an open - source Linux PC built on the AMD architecture. It comes in two models with 512GB and 2TB storage. The front panel of the console can be DIY - replaced. It runs SteamOS by default but can support dual - system installation.
Image | Steam
As for more specific parameters, the Steam Machine uses a 6 - core, 12 - thread Zen 4 architecture processor and a 28CU RDNA3 discrete graphics card with 8GB DDR6 video memory. The overall system memory is 16GB DDR5.
Judging from this performance configuration, the new Steam Machine follows a similar approach to the Steam Deck: it's not a “next - generation console” that pursues the last 10% performance improvement, but rather a daily gaming companion that can deliver good graphics within a reasonable budget.
The TDP of the Steam Machine is about 110W, almost like an ultra - low - power ITX computer | TheVerge
Although the Steam Machine claims to be able to run all Steam games, its specifications are still a bit underwhelming: 8GB of video memory - it's indeed insufficient in 2025.
Digital Foundry pointed out in its hands - on experience:
The GPU level of the Steam Machine is close to that of the RX 7600. It's suitable for playing 3A games at 1080P high - quality or 2K medium - quality graphics. The 8GB video memory will bring many fundamental limitations.
Using the RX7600 as a simulation, the Steam Machine can run “Cyberpunk 2077” at around 70 frames per second at 1080P maximum - quality graphics and “Black Myth: Wukong” at around 30 frames per second at 1080P high - quality graphics.
Performance reference of the RX 7600 GPU
For this reason, its transmission specifications aren't overly exaggerated. The Steam Machine is equipped with one DP 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0 interface. Although it can support 8K 60Hz or 4K 120Hz, considering the performance of the Steam Machine, most games currently can't fully utilize these specifications. It makes sense not to use HDMI 2.1.
Image | Steam
Additionally, as a company “from the gamers and for the gamers,” when it comes to the interface selection of the Steam Machine, Valve provides a 4A1C configuration. The two interfaces in the front of the console are both USB - A, which can be perfectly compatible with 95% of current peripherals, including keyboards and mice.
Image | Steam
But why does a console need to support keyboards and mice? This brings us to the real foundation of the Steam Machine, SteamOS.
After the failure of the first - generation Steam Machine ten years ago, Valve confirmed the underlying logic of its game hardware design: There's no hope of waiting for game manufacturers to actively adapt to the Linux - based SteamOS. The focus should be on how to make Linux better compatible with Windows games.
Image | Steam
The effectiveness of this strategy is obvious to all: the Proton compatibility layer on the Steam Deck has evolved from being glitchy at the beginning to being able to seamlessly run most games in the Steam library. “Playing games on Linux” is no longer an absurd scenario.
With such a technological foundation, a hybrid product like the Steam Machine, which can combine the diversity of the Windows game library and the convenience of a gaming console that can be used at any time, has emerged naturally.
As for why the configuration is relatively conservative, it can be understood as Steam's insight into its community users. On the Steam official website, we can see that the most common configuration among Steam users currently is NVIDIA's 60 - series graphics cards, accounting for over 20%, which is almost on par with the performance of the Steam Machine. Many more players have PC configurations far lower than this. A Valve engineer said:
One of the reasons we chose this configuration is that for most Steam users, it's actually an upgrade.
The launch of the Steam Machine also marks that the Steam game library will move from the study to the living room, which isn't good news for Microsoft and Sony.
Although GameStop claimed “the console war is over” just two weeks ago, Valve announced its entry into the gaming console field in a seemingly deliberate way: “The console war over exclusive content is indeed over. Your current opponent is the entire PC gaming pool.”
In fact, whether it's “Halo” coming to the PS this year or Sony promoting the release of its first - party games on Windows, it clearly signals that selling games is more important than selling gaming consoles. The end of the console war is actually a reconciliation.
And Valve's entry into the market with the Steam game library is an attempt to eliminate the gap between PC and console content -
I no longer need to buy a PC to play PC games and then buy a console to play “time - exclusive” console games. Anyway, they'll all end up in Steam sooner or later. Buying a SteamOS - based console solves both problems.
As for the price, considering that Valve claims the new Steam Machine “will be price - competitive compared to PCs with similar configurations,” the price of this small SteamOS - running console is expected not to be very high.
Referring to other small - sized, high - performance gaming console - like products, if the price of the Steam Machine can be controlled below $700, it will be a very cost - effective choice. However, due to the rising cost of storage in the next few years, perhaps $800 - $1000 will be its actual price.
Steam Hasn't Given Up on VR and Wants to Embrace Android
In addition, the two new peripherals released along with the Steam Machine also have very unique features. For example, the wireless VR headset Steam Frame, which is designed for game streaming:
Image | TheVerge
With the success of “Half - Life: Alyx,” Valve can probably be said to be the company that understands VR games the best in the world right now. Their understanding of VR headsets also sets them apart from other products on the market.
The most important selling point of the Steam Frame is its portability. It weighs only 440g in total when worn. It is equipped with two 2160 x 2160 - pixel LCD displays, supports a variable refresh rate of 72 - 144Hz, and has a 21.6 - watt - hour battery.
This battery capacity is about half of that of the first - generation Steam Deck. It can support 2 - 3 hours of pure - picture streaming. You can also choose to sacrifice a bit of portability and plug in a power bank to extend the single - use time to about 4 - 5 hours.
Image | TheVer