Is a New Gaming Shakeup on the Horizon?

For better and for worse, the gaming industry is changing fast. Costs are steadily rising, AAA game development is stagnating, and the lines between the PC and console ecosystems are becoming blurrier than ever. And if things continue in the direction they seem to be heading given recent developments, we may soon be seeing a shakeup that we haven’t seen since Sega left the console business and Xbox took their place in the “Big 3” of console manufacturers. I think there are two major pivots that could drastically redefine the gaming landscape in the years to come.

1). Xbox seems to be pivoting away from a hardware focus towards software and subscriptions
2). Valve is entering the hardware space with more gusto than ever before

Let’s break down what seems to be happening and what this could mean going forward.

Xbox Goes Multi-Platform

While Microsoft’s gaming division has repeatedly stated that they have no intention to exit the hardware space entirely, their focus has definitely shifted and their hardware will likely be very different from the previous generations. Their (latest) remake of the original Halo is coming to PlayStation; day and date with Xbox and PC, no less. And based on statements from executives, it’s very much seeming like the Xbox ROG Ally X is acting as something of a test run for a much more open, PC-based console ecosystem for future Xbox hardware. Windows is, as of yet, nowhere near where it needs to be if it's intended as the foundation of a gaming-centric device. But that could be changing if Xbox is indeed basing its future devices on PC architectures and operating systems. What exact form that may take remains to be seen, but it very much seems like the traditional console experience is slowly starting to see the sunset. This leads into the next major point: Valve’s newfound push into the hardware space.

Gaben Wants Your Living Room, and Isn’t Playing Around This Time

Hardware is not a new concept for Valve, but they’ve never fully committed to it. They gently dipped their toes with the 2015 Steam Machines. This lineup of small form factor PCs was made in partnership with several popular PC brands and rocked a Linux-based OS. Without an official compatibility layer for wider Windows game support, these were inherently limited to games with Linux versions without a lot of end user tinkering and failed to make much of a splash. Other trinkets from Valve include the original Steam Controller (which was interesting, but had a steep learning curve) and the Valve Index, a high-end VR headset. In 2022, they then started wading into the hardware waters with the handheld Steam Deck, another Linux-based PC that busted the doors for game support wide open with the focus on the Proton compatibility layer. But this newest batch of announcements feels more like a full plunge. They’ve tested the waters, and it seems like they’re diving in with their new lineup, which includes:

• A brand new Steam Controller fashioned after the inputs of the Steam Deck.
• A new VR headset called the Steam Frame that functions both standalone and tethered to a PC.
• A small, entry-level gaming PC called the Steam Machine that runs on their Linux-based Steam OS, just like the Steam Deck.

This new lineup is expansive and has the potential to be more industry-changing than the abrupt and lighthearted announcement trailer might let on.

All of that being said, it’s important to not overblow things. Despite the massive ubiquity and popularity of Steam as a platform, Valve is still a deceptively small company. The company is by no means any kind of ramshackle startup or scrappy little outfit, but it's nowhere near the size of the publicly-traded, international behemoths that are Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo. They have the Steam storefront as their perennial cash cow, which provides ample breathing room to subsidize hardware in the interest of inviting players into their storefront, but they simply don’t have the manufacturing scale of these giants. And if the new batch of hardware follows the same pattern as the Steam Deck, it won’t even have a retail presence in most markets. Steam Decks—at least in the United States—are only available to buy officially direct from Steam. You won't find them on retailer shelves like the ROG Ally or Lenovo Legion lines. If they hold to the same business model with the new Steam Machine and Steam Frame, then we can probably expect a similar best-case outcome: niche products produced at a modest scale with modest success. I love my Steam Deck, but it’s definitely not mainstream. Whenever I’ve used it in public, I almost always get people who have never heard of it curiously asking what it is. “Whoa, that’s a weird Switch.” The PC gaming space is already mostly dominated by enthusiasts, and the Steam Deck is a niche within a niche.

What the Steam Machine does have the potential to do, however, is to continue the work the Steam Deck has been doing—opening up PC gaming to more people. Only this time, the battle is being fought on a new, couchy front. From the announced specs and tech media previews, it seems like a capable device; but it’s not intended to be a cutting edge, graphical mindblower. Early breakdowns seem to place it somewhere between an Xbox Series S and a base PlayStation 5 in terms of power. That should be more than sufficient to play most AAA games at 1080p, but Valve explicitly qualifies its 4K potential with the need for upscaling. It’s not going to be a top-of-the-line powerhouse, but that’s not what it’s trying to be. It’s trying to be an entry point into their PC ecosystem that leverages the convenience and simplicity of Steam OS and bridge the gap between consoles and PCs. Their marketing so far seems very intentional, portraying folks who don’t seem to outwardly embody the hardcore gamer stereotype. They’re trying to make it clear that this is for everyone with an interest in games, not just enthusiasts and gamers who work in IT. By effectively turning a PC into a plug-and-play console, people who have been intimidated by the quirks and complications of PC gaming might finally be coaxed into making the jump. I love my GabeCube, but it wasn’t exactly a simple or user-friendly process getting it up and running. A person who just wants a console-like experience probably doesn’t want to flash their own OS and deal with a bunch of BIOS settings. But the convenience and breadth of the Steam storefront is a huge boon once someone is roped in. The pricing of the device will be very, very important in determining how it plays out, but the specs make it seem like it’s trying to target a price point that’s accessible and competitive with other console options. If that’s the case and it takes off, lowering the bar of entry to roughly the same level as a traditional console could spark a shift in the larger gaming landscape.

Playing with (Modest) Power

I personally don’t see the power level of the Steam Machine as an inherent problem, but I’m not a graphics snob or PC elitist by any means. I just think AAA graphics have seen more and more diminishing returns with each generation. For me, the PS4/Xbox One era hit something of a graphical sweet spot; games could look really great (just look at Batman: Arkham Knight), generally ran decent enough, and development cycles were reasonable enough for studios to push out multiple games in a generation. And I think that a more standardized and modest set of specs to target could actually be a good thing, so long as publishers are willing to offer some accommodations. I’d rather have a larger output of more modest-looking games that focus on creativity and innovative gameplay than safer concepts aiming to look pretty above all else with astronomical budgets that take forever to make and run the dev teams ragged. Between the Switch 2, the Steam Deck, and the new Steam Machine, I’d love for publishers to focus more on accommodating these more reasonable expectations and building experiences tailored towards them. I personally just don’t give a rat’s tiny ass about a potential PS6 or an ultra high-end next-gen Xbox. I’ve barely touched my PS5 since I got my GabeCube, and I think it will likely be the last traditional console I ever buy unless Sony does something really unexpected and intriguing with the PS6. Incentivizing developers to create graphical presets that are optimized for the Steam Machine—as many devs already do for Steam Deck—could further help bridge the divide between PC and consoles; it would let users just jump right in to the game without having to worry about tinkering with graphics settings. I’m not saying that games should stop trying to look beautiful; I would just like that to be an option for those who invest in beefy rigs and want 60fps with 4K texture packs and ray tracing. I just don’t want everyone else to be left behind or priced out; we should still have well-optimized options as fallbacks so that the less hardcore people can still have a good time playing the same games at lower settings.

I don’t have all that much to say about the Steam Frame at the moment. I’ve only very, very lightly dipped my toes into VR at the moment (I had the original PSVR and now a Meta Quest 3), but I do enjoy what I’ve tried so far. I’m open to trying out the Steam Frame in the future, and I’m all for making the still fledgling VR market more mainstream and accessible. So I hope that it’s a quality, affordable product that broadens the market. But that new Steam Controller? Hot damn, I want that in my hands NOW. I love the Steam Deck’s controls, and I can wait to get one of these beauties hooked up to my GabeCube. Hell, I might even get several of them to share the love with my friends when they come over. I currently use an 8Bitdo Pro 3 as my primary gamepad for Switch 2 and PC; it’s fantastic overall, but there are some quirks.

Are Bespoke PCs the Future of Consoles?

We have a very good idea about what Valve is trying to do, and we’ll wait and see what cockamamie, overpriced shenanigans Xbox gets up to in the near future and if they’ve shot themselves in the foot (you can probably see my bias against Microsoft seeping through). I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I would not be surprised at all if we look back at this period and recognize it as the period where things got really shaken up again. We may be seeing the signs of the membership of the Big 3 changing, especially if Valve’s new box is able to get a leg up on whatever Xbox has cooking in terms of price and popularity. But regardless of what happens, some major players in the industry seem to be heading towards a PC-focused future, and I personally think that could end up being a very good thing. We might soon be seeing the walls of these walled gardens starting to come down. No more being locked to any singular storefront to buy your games; no subscription fees just to access online play; no losing access to your last-gen library; no restrictions on sideloading your own apps or mods. This is all aside from Nintendo, that is. They just seem to do whatever the fuck they want and keep getting away with it because we want our Zeldas and our Marios.

So while we can’t predict the exact outcome, the writing on the wall seems to point towards a future of PC gaming continuing its steady creep into the living room and all other areas of the gaming landscape.

Lo, I have tasted PC gaming, and hath seen that it is good. Hark! Allow Gaben into your heart, and bear witness to the living room SFF PC with Linux. Beard be upon you.