It's a three-way street for Valve, which is preparing to launch new peripherals for video game enthusiasts.
In 2022, Valve returned to the hardware market with its first portable console, the famous Steam Deck. No official information on the machine's success has been released, but estimates point to several million units of the various versions launched by Valve. Success enough, in any case, for the company behind the number-one PC gaming platform - Steam - to be considering new products in the hardware category. Why "consider"? Because even if a launch in the first quarter of next year is mooted, until the products are actually on sale... well, they're not on sale.
Some of you may remember the Steam Machines launched in 2015 by Valve and its partners at the time, notably Alienware? At the time, the product was a resounding flop and, with it, the Steam Controller, a controller designed to accompany it in the best possible way. Today, Valve is back at it again, announcing no less than three products and, in particular, a new version of the Steam Machine and Steam Controller. First of all, the Steam Machine is this time designed, manufactured and sold by Valve, which relies on a single partner: AMD. The American firm is in charge of preparing the two CPU and GPU chips that will power the Steam Machine: a Zen 4 CPU with 6 cores and an RDNA 3 GPU with 28 computing units. The former consumes just 30 watts, while the latter tops out at 110 watts, for a total power consumption that Valve aims to keep in check.
The Steam Machine itself is roughly a 16-centimeter cube weighing 2.5 kilograms, making it more compact and lighter than consoles from Microsoft or Sony. Nevertheless, power seems to be the order of the day, even if you'll need to use AMD's upscaling technique (FSR) to enjoy games in 4K or with a very high level of detail. This is perhaps one of the problems with the Steam Machine even before its release: it doesn't seem to be really future-proof, as it already doesn't support the latest version of FSR, but is limited to FSR 3 - at least for the time being - and won't be able to run the most demanding PC games in very good conditions... Some of them simply won't work: all indications are, for example, that Borderlands 4 won't be compatible, as it requires an 8-core CPU. To be verified in due course.
On the other hand, the Steam Machine has a number of valuable assets. For example, it relies on SteamOS, Valve's Linux-based operating system already present in the Steam Deck. True, online competitive games don't yet run on SteamOS due to anti-cheat protections, and you'll have to make do with certain platforms like Xbox Game Pass or the Epic Games Store... at least for now. That said, the number of perfectly compatible games is huge and growing by the day. What's more, it's still possible to install a Windows operating system on the Steam Machine, even if this is not advisable, as you lose the SteamOS interface, which has been specially designed for use with a controller. The Steam Machine can operate up to four Steam Controllers wirelessly, thanks to the integration of a "puck", which we'll come back to later.
Finally, the Steam Machine boasts extensive connectivity (2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 on the front, 2x USB-A 2.0, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 on the rear, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DP 1.4, 1x RJ45 1GbE on the rear), an integrated power supply to avoid having a block lying around on the floor, a light bar on the front for various functions (such as download progress) and a customizable front panel. Valve didn't mention the price at all, simply referring to an " affordable price for an entry-level PC ", before going on to discuss the new Steam Controller, which will arrive at the same time as the Steam Controller, but will be sold separately. Here, Valve is thinking big - and the size/weight of the controller is a real question - with an accessory designed to integrate all the controls of a Steam Deck for controlling the Steam Machine from your sofa: two mini-sticks, a directional cross, four main buttons, four programmable buttons on the back, two triggers, two bumpers, but above all two trackpads and an integrated gyroscope function.
It's hard to say how pleasant the controller will be to use, but one thing's for sure: it's going to be a welcome change from the classic gamepads we know today, and should therefore enable you to play any style of game without needing to connect a keyboard and mouse to the Steam Machine... although this will of course be possible, since the Steam Machine is basically nothing more than a PC. The Steam Controller will be sold with a "puck", a small accessory that plugs into a PC via USB, enabling up to four Steam Controllers to be connected wirelessly. The idea, of course, is to simplify cable management when playing with several people... especially if this is done in the living room. Wired use is still possible, but wireless is of course an advantage, since the wireless connection is 2.4 GHz and should therefore ensure low latency. Again, no price has been announced, but the Steam Controller should have an autonomy of at least 25 hours.
The third and final product announced by Valve is the Steam Frame. This is a virtual reality headset in direct competition with Meta's Quest 3. It, too, is autonomous, thanks to a small Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB or 1 TB of storage space, depending on the version. So you can play without a computer, but the best thing about the Steam Frame is that it can be connected to a PC... wirelessly. To this end, Valve has designed a USB dongle to ensure a perfect connection. The Steam Frame differs from the Quest 3 in that its definition (2,160 x 2,160 vs. 2,064 x 2,208 pixels per eye) and refresh rate (72 to 144 Hz vs. 72 to 120 Hz) are slightly higher. Valve has also specified that the Steam Frame is equipped with two microphones, four monochrome cameras facing the outside of the headset (for controller and headset tracking) and two interior cameras for eye tracking and foveal transmission.
The Steam Frame promises to be particularly comfortable, weighing in at just 435 grams all told, including the battery (placed in the counterweight on the back of the head) and two speakers. Once again, Valve is relying on its SteamOS operating system to manage the headset, and on a pair of controllers that appear fairly standard for virtual headset controllers. Here again, release is scheduled for "early 2026", but Valve is unable to be more precise, and the American firm is even more vague about the price of this virtual reality headset, which will have to compete with the Quest 3, which has already been available for some time.
