Valve has officially and inconspicuously revealed that it plans to launch its Steam Machine and Steam Frame this summer. After months of speculation and rumors, the target release window has been narrowed down to sometime this summer. Valve slipped the release info in a recent blog post detailing standalone verification for the new gaming hardware. Now, one might think that given the interest for both pieces of hardware, Valve might’ve chosen a more formal announcement, but things are what they are, and here you go.
“Today we are expanding the Verified program to include Steam Machine and Steam Frame, both of which are shipping this summer. As with Steam Deck Verified, the goal is to help customers understand the out-of-box experience for a given title on these new devices, and how smoothly a game will run with no user work or configuration required.”
– Valve
Steam’s verified program is a database clarifying the compatibility of games with Steam’s Linux-based Proton OS. Up until now, it has been used to aid owners of the Steam Deck to see compatibility ratings for games on the gaming handheld, but now includes ratings for the Steam Machine gaming console and the Steam Frame VR headset. Valve previously revealed requirements for both pieces of hardware, advising developers that optimizing for lower spec machines increases their target audience back in March.
“Long story short: If your game already runs well on Deck, it will also run well on Machine with no extra work required from you. And if it doesn’t run great on Deck because of CPU or GPU performance, it may still run great on Machine.”
– Valve
Those details continue to align with Valve’s latest in that if a title runs well on the Steam Deck, it will also do so on the Steam Machine, but it’s added that if a game doesn’t perform well on the Steam Deck, it could see better performance on the Steam Deck with its more powerful hardware. Meanwhile, when it comes to the Steam Frame, similar guidance is provided, but it is designed to be used with a PC for streaming, and its integrated standalone hardware is capable of playing games.
“While Steam Frame is primarily designed for high quality game streaming from a PC, it’s also a full PC running SteamOS, with standalone capabilities: games can be run entirely on the headset, not connected to anything.”
– Valve
Valve has already begun posting its testing results for games on either hardware and has updated its partner dashboard with the results. The updated dashboard now includes tabs for the Steam Machine and also the Steam Frame (standalone mode).
Needless to say, there’s excitement building for Valve’s upcoming hardware releases, especially for its wireless VR headset, and it now looks like the wait is almost over.
Discussion (10 replies)
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Some YTers got reviews up too, like DF, GN, and a few others.
DOA at that price
next xbox will cheaper than that, lol
Fun collectors box for those with more money than sense, or retirees who need a reason to live (paging @DAPUNISHER )
Otherwise... why?
Even with the RAMpocalypse you can get alright entry level gaming laptops that will perform similarly for less, and its a complete portable system instead of just the box.
I would not buy one, but I know people IRL it is ideal for. They need to get FSR4 dialed in. Lots of other QoL and optimization that should happen over time. It has good potential. The footprint, HDMI-CEC, 4 steam controller support, and steam frame integration are, or will be, value added.
I downloaded the latest official SteamOS and tried to install it on my 5800X3D+7900XTX. It failed a couple of tasks that looked machine hardware specific. It did not find the support it wanted on my bluetooth module either. then failed to make it past a prompt in the top left. It would stop sending a monitor signal after that and the TV would go to standby. Tried twice then gave up. Not going to bother troubleshooting it. CachyOS it is for now. Still need to try Pop!OS with my RTX setup.
also try Regata & Zorin & let us know !!
I'm curious if you have ever tried Bazzite.
I used it before moving to CachyOS. I never could get it to consistently work with my BT XBOX controller. A few other things about using an immutable that were annoying over time.
I've read good things about Zorin. Never heard of Regata.
suggested by @igor_kavinski
seems good to me !!
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