Valve’s Steam Machine could disrupt Sony and Microsoft: I have only three concerns

For decades, there have been three major players in the console gaming market: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have dominated the market by offering powerful consoles that provide excellent couch gaming experiences. Sony’s PlayStation 5 is the latest to outshine its rival, surpassing all Xbox consoles.

Now there’s a new candidate in town. Valve recently announced the Steam Machine, which is actually their second attempt at a hybrid PC console experience, powered by a semi-custom 6-core AMD Zen 4 CPU and a 28CU RDNA 3 GPU (Compute Units).

Its small form factor, along with its console-like connectivity (via HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4) and operating system, automatically puts it in the same conversation as the successful consoles mentioned above.

Instead of limiting console gamers to PlayStation or Xbox exclusives (usually the former), the Steam Machine fills this gap by offering a gaming setup on the TV with a wider variety of games available to play via Steam, many of which were once PlayStation exclusives.

Whether many want to admit it or not, the Steam Machine represents both Sony and Microsoft, and its PS5 and Xbox series pose a serious threat to the S consoles, especially as the latter enter a phase of identity crisis as a console brand.
If Valve can get the Steam Machine at an attractive price and deliver performance that’s not far behind the new competition, then YESSony and Microsoft should really be worried.

I should note, however, that I have a few minor concerns. Perhaps Big potential problems with Valve’s ability to look over Xbox and PlayStation.

1. By 2025, only 8GB of VRAM will be a problem

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Perhaps the biggest concern of all is that I’ve been vehemently opposed to the Steam Machine’s 8GB GDDR6 VRAM for gaming on any system, be it laptop or desktop GPU, as it often represents a performance penalty in demanding games.

I recently tested a review unit of an RTX 5070 gaming laptop with 8GB of VRAM and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to see how capable it was at 1080p and 1440p resolutions when using upscaling methods. So I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s 8GB of VRAM. completely useless – I mean, according to Steam’s hardware surveys, 1080p is still the most used resolution.

However, my concerns and those of others are valid given the longevity of the system and the fact that modern games require a lot of VRAM, but I also think it’s worth noting that Valve probably made the move to only 8GB of VRAM to ensure that the price of the Steam Machine didn’t get out of hand.

Tools like frame shifting will be more important when playing at lower resolutions like 1080p (where VRAM usage is much lower than 4K), and upscaling to super resolution is ideal when playing in 4K as it ultimately reduces VRAM usage.

Regardless, I’m still concerned that aggressive scaling will be necessary, such as using FSR 3 performance mode or forcing users to drastically lower graphics settings to not max out at 8GB of VRAM and achieve Valve’s claimed 60fps at 4K.

Overall, I’m sure this will depend on the game and be a bigger problem for players playing poorly optimized titles, and I think playing at 1440p would be the best compromise, but let’s wait for performance testing after launch.

2. Price can determine the success or failure of the steam engine.

To be clear, I’m sure Valve will make the Steam Machine as useful as possible, just like they did with the Steam Deck. The problem is that I worry that the prices are not as affordable and accessible as many of us think.

This is not because of Valve, but because of the SSD and RAM market. NAND flash memory prices are suddenly rising again due to shortages and strong demand from AI data centers, as is RAM, which is currently facing a significant increase in US consumer prices.

The only hope is that Valve believes that a low and affordable price for the Steam Machine does not mean a huge loss (due to rising SSD and RAM prices) in production costs. special as Valve has already achieved a lot of financial success with its Steam store.

What gives me even more confidence is the fact that Valve released the Steam Deck during the latter stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand for SSDs and, frankly, all electronics increased as prices rose.

If the Steam Machine isn’t priced right, it won’t do Valve much of a favor, so I hope it’s there, and personally I’d expect something around $650 / £500 / AU$1,000.

3. Valve can only be sold in the Steam store

I fully support this principle that Valve has adopted in selling its products, especially the Steam Deck, exclusively through its Steam store, as it has a proven track record of doing a great job of preventing retailers from ruining the fun for real consumers. Measures were also implemented that allowed only one Steam platform per Steam account, generally making speculation difficult.

So what’s the problem with the steam engine? If Valve plans to compete with the current generation of game consoles from Sony and Microsoft, I have no doubt that selling this new hybrid PC console on Steam alone will affect sales.

To be clear, there will likely be a significant number of players unfamiliar with Steam on console or joining the game for the first time, and I’d assume Valve would implement the one-per-account approach as well.

Not all consumers will be willing to log into Steam with multiple accounts to purchase the system for themselves or others, and again, Steam alone cannot overcome the pull that Amazon, Best Buy, Argos (UK), Newegg or other major retailers have on consumers buying new products.

I just hope that if the Steam Machine remains exclusive to the Steam Store, the scope and features aren’t limited to the PS5 and Xbox series, the S consoles give you what you pay for.