Valve Denies Rumors of Returning to Gaming Console Market with New Steam Machines

Valve, the renowned developer behind the Steam platform, has officially denied rumors suggesting it is planning to re-enter the gaming console market with a new line of Steam Machines. The speculation arose from a leak by well-known industry insider eXtas1s, who claimed that Valve was working on a new console to rival the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

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According to eXtas1s, Valve is collaborating with AMD to utilize their upcoming RDNA 4 technology for this new console.

The rumor suggested that Valve’s new console would be a significant step up from the Steam Deck, aiming to offer a more powerful gaming experience. However, Valve has firmly denied these claims via a clarification that the changes on a Mesa patch change is about the Vulkan support within the Open Source RADV Radeon Driver for RDNA4 and nothing much else:

This initial support should be good enough but it’s missing two features (cooperative matrix and video decode/encode) compared to GFX11 (RDNA3) because lack of time.
DCC is still under active development but it might be possible to finish it during the RC period.

Valve’s previous attempt to enter the console market with Steam Machines in 2015 was met with limited success. The concept behind Steam Machines was to provide small PCs, either made by Valve or other manufacturers, running SteamOS (with the option to boot Windows). Despite the innovative idea, the Steam Machines did not achieve the expected success due to various factors, including limited game compatibility and high prices.

In recent years, Valve has focused on the success of the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming device that has gained popularity among gamers. The company has sold “multiple millions” of the device since its release, although exact sales figures have not been disclosed. The Steam Deck’s success has been attributed to its portability, performance, and the extensive library of games available on Steam.