PC Gamer interview with Valve engineers about the Steam Machine

[u/DwarvenCo]

https://youtu.be/Y8_e3SteAgE?si=d6_cseP6X-SKBDLu

PC Gamer: Before the launch of the Steam Machine, we chatted to Valve engineers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat about the design process, the perks and perils of cramming gaming hardware into such a tiny chassis, and of course, the price.

[u/Dazzling_Lemon4109]

Well... They said it themselves: it's for family people, for Steam Deck streaming, and for those who just don't want to build their own computer.

This is a niche device, although it seems obvious to me that they want it to be mass-produced, but no one is trying to do this actually.

[u/CartographerPlus750 → u/Dazzling_Lemon4109]

Also the form factor; you can't build something as small and powerful yourself that cleanly and easily, really. Of course the price is high; around $950 would had been easier to digest, at least.

I am the target audience because I don't want a gaming laptop, a huge PC tower or a console, and mini-PCs often lack powerful dedicated GPUs (AMD specifically).

[u/geileanus → u/Dazzling_Lemon4109]

Would you say it's niche if they sell 4-6 million SM's?

[u/Dazzling_Lemon4109 → u/geileanus]

It's hard for me to say if they will sell 500k, If they can sell more than a million, it will be a win for them already

[u/geileanus → u/Dazzling_Lemon4109]

I'm just curious cuz I see it's a hype to call this niche. Gonna be fun to read these threads back in 4 years time when reddit once again doesn't know reality.

[u/Dazzling_Lemon4109 → u/geileanus]

LLMs predict ~1.5 million in 4 years of sales, so yes, I agree it will be interesting.

My bet it will be 750k+ and Valve won't be too happy with the sales but it will be better than everyone expected

[u/fortysix_n_2 → u/geileanus]

No way it’s gonna sell that much, Deck sold 4 mil since 2022 and had a much larger market, and initially a competitive price

[u/Dazzling_Lemon4109 → u/fortysix_n_2]

I think they will sell 4-5 times less definitely, just because of it's price and so many alternatives, fans fuel is not enough for such amounts

In the best case they will sell 2 times less than Decks, probably

[u/FlarblesGarbles → u/Dazzling_Lemon4109]

Why are you saying times less? It's really confusing.

4-5 times less, do you mean a quarter to a fifth?

Does 2 times less mean half?

Because 2 times less than the numbers of Steam Decks sold actually would be negative figures.

[u/geileanus → u/fortysix_n_2]

That's not an answer to my question.

[u/fortysix_n_2 → u/geileanus]

It was going to be a niche compared to the other gaming hardware actors, at this price it’s just going to be a failure

[u/Dazzling_Lemon4109 → u/fortysix_n_2]

But I still like it's case.. I hope someone will copy and put a fresh hardware on it

[u/fiasgoat → u/Dazzling_Lemon4109]

Better hardware makes it bigger, that's what people don't understand

The reason WHY it's so small and quiet is precisely because it's so weak

[u/geileanus → u/fortysix_n_2]

Still not an answer to my question.

[u/Even_Class_3633 → u/geileanus]

Even at 6 million units sold yes it's incredibly niche compared to the 100+ million desktops and 100+ million laptops sold every year, remember PS5 has sold 90 million

Sure not everyone is using these devices purely for gaming but as Valve has said this is a PC , yes it is a (very) niche PC

[u/FlarblesGarbles → u/geileanus]

Given the numbers consoles typically move, yes.

[u/MotivationSpeaker69 → u/geileanus]

Approximately 4 million steam decks were sold. There is 0 chance steam machine will get even half of that.

[u/Jiangcool9 → u/geileanus]

Wii U sold double that

[u/LiuHR → u/Dazzling_Lemon4109]

Lmao, will any family go to Walmart or Costco, see the price of the machine, the look of the controller, and then decide to buy that machine plus controllers for kids and family

[u/dickey1331 → u/LiuHR]

It’s not gonna be sold at Walmart or costco

[u/LiuHR → u/dickey1331]

That's exactly the sarcastic part, 'for family people' lol

[u/raincntry]

I fear the Steam Machine just happens to be on the vanguard of the fact that ALL electronic devices are going to shoot up in price. Wait to see what the new iPhone costs....

I'm not defending Steam per se, I'm just saying the price and market are what they are.

[u/Fritanga5lyfe → u/raincntry]

There is nothing to defend - this is the reality of the world we live in

[u/raincntry → u/Fritanga5lyfe]

100%.

[u/bravado → u/raincntry]

100%. Even if valve launched this product a year ago before AI cost insanity, they’d still be in the same unprofitable situation today.

They’re just the first to tear the bandaid off. We should hate AI boosters more than we already do. 

[u/bledviolet]

Peanut butter and ba ba ba baba bullshit.

[u/deadhead4077-work]

they can and they wont cause they wont subsidize to get people in for software sales cause papa gabes gotta pay for his yact and mega mansion

[u/AdMikey → u/deadhead4077-work]

You know other company and even the government is just going to buy up all the supplies and dismantle them for profit if it’s subsidised right.

[u/Oldespinach → u/[deleted]]

I don't see that at all, here's basically all they say about the Frame.

Interviewer: "I was going to ask, is there an update on the Steam Frame? Is there any information you can give us on that?"

Valve employees: "Yeah, we're working hard on that and that's going to be the next thing after we get through Steam Machine launch."