A former Xbox executive has called on Valve to allow third-parties to use SteamOS to make their own Steam Machines, amid concern over the price of the next-gen living room PC.
The Steam Machine is a gaming-focused PC designed to be more accessible than a standard desktop PC, with a sleek, cube-like design and SteamOS on-board. We here at IGN have offered our thoughts on how much the Steam Machine will cost, suggesting it’ll probably be higher than people think. Chatter about pricing recently ramped up after Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips suggested it wouldn’t follow a “console pricing model” of $500, after mentioning the figure in a meeting with Valve staff.
Now, Mike Ybarra, former President of Blizzard Entertainment and executive on Microsoft’s Windows and Xbox team, has urged Valve to open the door to next-gen Steam Machines from third-party companies, which, he said, would only increase Steam store revenue.
"Dear @valvesoftware," he said in a tweet, "please just let 3rd parties use SteamOS and make the HW with many different configurations. SteamOS will take off and your Store revenue will only go up.”
Ybarra’s comment was in response to the suggestion that Valve’s Steam Machine will likely cost above $750. We’ve suggested Steam Machine will cost $700-$800. To put that into perspective, the base PS5 with a disc drive currently costs $549.99, while the PS5 Digital Edition costs $499.99. The PS5 Pro, meanwhile, costs $749.99.
Presumably, if third-parties were able to get in on the action they might release cheaper alternatives. At least, that's what Ybarra is suggesting here. But it’s worth remembering that third-parties already can use SteamOS — just look at the Lenovo Legion Go S. Indeed, in an interview with IGN on Steam Machine, Valve sounded open to other hardware running SteamOS. It just comes down to other manufacturers investing in building the hardware.
And let's not forget that what Ybarra is asking Valve to do is exactly what it did do with the first iteration of Steam Machine a decade ago: third-party boxes running Valve's operating system. So, in theory anyone could have made a Steam Machine at any time over the last 10 years, but they… didn't.
Ybarra went on to urge Microsoft to get in on the SteamOS action, too, although admitted this is unlikely. “This is what Xbox should do, btw,” he said. “But they will likely be forced to push Windows with AI, co-pilot, teams, and more. They could do GREAT if they embraced SteamOS on HW.”
Microsoft, as everyone knows, has PC / console hybrid plans of its own. A recent report claimed the next Xbox will play PlayStation games released on PC via Steam. That means the likes of Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, Insomniac’s Spider-Man, and Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima and pretty much all other PC games will all be playable on the next-gen Xbox in an industry first.
Windows Central reported that while users of the next-gen Xbox can remain inside the Xbox ecosystem if they want, they can exit to Windows, where the console acts like a traditional Windows PC. That means having access to PlayStation games on Steam, and mouse and keyboard games from Blizzard's launcher, Battle.net (World of Warcraft), and Riot's launcher (League of Legends).
We’ve got plenty more on all Valve’s recent hardware announcements, and have a handy roundup so you don’t miss a thing. We went hands-on with Steam Machine and Steam Controller, and if you’re wondering about Steam Deck 2, we asked Valve about that as well.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
