PC Valve announces 3 new pieces of hardware today

[SpikeSlania]

Today Valve announced 3 new pieces of hardware; Steam Controller, Steam Frame, and Steam Machine. There's already another thread talking about the Steam Machine so there's a brief mention on it. All 3 devices are planned for a 2026 release and no price point has been revealed. The Steam Frame looks to be their direct competitor to Meta Quest with it being a VR headset that doesn't need a PC to operate, they stated it isn't an Index 2 and is it's own category so it's possible that a sequel to the Index being a more powerful device coming down the line later. Of the 3 pieces of hardware revealed, the only one I might buy is the Steam Controller because I'm just a sucker for new controllers and probably have in the double digits of controllers laying around my room at this point <.<

 

[moonbits]

The controller is a major improvement, worth it.

 

[PhaseJump]

Valve has been putting Gabe's lunch money into FEX for a few years now, and that will probably be a big paradigm shift once Frame is out.

 

[starseeker300]

yoo this is actually preety hype, i was just about to post this myself

 

[SpikeSlania]

The controller is a major improvement, worth it.

That 35 hour of battery life in a modern controller, think that just gave me a stiffy. That and having the d-pad to the left side of the controller while the left analog stick is to the right like a playstation controller makes it more ideal for 2d indies.

yoo this is actually preety hype, i was just about to post this myself

I was surprised no one posted before me, well except for the thread just talking about the Steam Machine while ignoring the Controller and Headset. Really looking forward to the controller now.

 

[SpcDaicon]

We always hear about hardware developers doing software, but a software developer making hardware is a first for me.

So...

Valve gonna just replace Microsoft now?

I'm mean, MS is slowly leaveing the hardware market (or at least seems to) and investing more on Game Pass and Windows integration so I think it wouldn't be a stretch to assume a possible Steam and Microsoft partnership with Valve providing the hardware and Microsoft providing Game Pass

 

[PhaseJump]

We always hear about hardware developers doing software, but a software developer making hardware is a first for me.

So...

Valve gonna just replace Microsoft now?

I'm mean, MS is slowly leaveing the hardware market (or at least seems to) and investing more on Game Pass and Windows integration so I think it wouldn't be a stretch to assume a possible Steam and Microsoft partnership with Valve providing the hardware and Microsoft providing Game Pass

Valve's been in hardware for a while. They made Steam Controller, Index, and Steam Deck already. Steam Controller 2 is probably going to sell well since it has better magnetic sticks and all the features people love about the Deck.

Frame is going to push x86 PC gaming on ARM64, and the Machine is going to give console gamers PC games with entry level performance probably in and around the same ballpark as Series X & PS5.

Hard to say what will happen with Xbox. These days, Microsoft marketing can't clearly explain how to smash two rocks together without mass confusion.

 

[SpikeSlania]

We always hear about hardware developers doing software, but a software developer making hardware is a first for me.

So...

Valve gonna just replace Microsoft now?

I'm mean, MS is slowly leaveing the hardware market (or at least seems to) and investing more on Game Pass and Windows integration so I think it wouldn't be a stretch to assume a possible Steam and Microsoft partnership with Valve providing the hardware and Microsoft providing Game Pass

And Valve is more leaning into Linux and not Windows to avoid the Microsoft ecosystem. Out of the box on the Steam Machine you won't be able to play games like Battlefield 6 or any of your Windows Store games. I do agree with you about Microsoft probably going to leave the hardware space but disagree on who would handle Xbox hardware in the future. I see Microsoft doing a 3DO and licensing out their hardware brand to companies like Asus who already makes the Xbox handheld and probably a few others like MSI and Zotac. Lenovo has been more working with Valve with their handhelds having an option to come with SteamOS preinstalled. So it might be more of a new competition between Valve and Xbox granted the next Xbox will just have the Steam Storefront included in their OS.

 

[merzbun]

the deck is amazing, really excited to see how these shape up. i think itll really come down to the price points, i think they have the ability to nuke xbox from the atmosphere if they play it right. i think the steam machine looks super cute :)