While Valve doesn’t size up to Google’s habit of abandoning projects, some of its beloved hardware discontinuations serve as a warning.
The Steam Deck has the potential to be a truly fantastic product, and given the rising popularity of PC gaming, this latest offering from Valve could be the affordable first step into the hobby for many. Given this accessibility and the general ‘cool’ factor of playing your steam library on a genuine handheld gaming PC, people are understandably excited, but it’s worth remembering that other hardware offerings from Steam have been great pieces of tech in their own right, and that didn’t stop them from getting the axe. With the recent announcement of the Switch OLED disappointing many of even the most dedicated Nintendo fans, it was clearer than ever that another handheld gaming device was needed on the market to fill a few voids. The potential that the Steam Deck (not to be confused with the Elgato Stream Deck) has to deal a serious blow to Nintendo isn’t something to be underestimated, especially given its design similarities in being both a handheld and dockable machine. With the Steam Deck running on a new, modified version of the SteamOS (a Linux-based operating system introduced back in 2013), users will be able to download and play almost every game on their Steam library, and Valve has mentioned that this updated version of the SteamOS has been optimized to run on a handheld system, a far cry from the version that was introduced several years ago. Our caution regarding the Steam Deck isn’t unwarranted, lest we forget the Steam Machine and its Icarus-like history. For anyone that doesn’t remember this particular piece of tech, Steam Machines were pre-built PCs from a number of different manufacturers that promised to run on Steam’s own operating system and shake up the console gaming market. The theory was that by sitting under our TV’s, PC gamers wouldn’t be constricted to sitting at a desk, and as such nobody would need to throw their cash at the latest Playstation or Xbox. Given that they fell into obscurity, it’s pretty safe to say that Steam Machines didn’t quite take off as planned, and there are a few good reasons why. Essentially, the situation can be boiled down to Valve trying to take on too much with a single project.
