Valve recently removed the links to Steam Machines from the front navigation page of the Steam Store. Some people have considered that act to be one which marks the end of the line for Valve’s hardware. Steam Machines were introduced by the game developer/digital games distributor back in 2015, as a line of pre-built gaming computers or consoles designed to operate its own operating system, the SteamOS.
However, Valve representative Pierre-Loup Griffais posted an update on Steam Community, clarifying the act of removing the Steam Machine links as being merely “routine cleanup.” He explained that the links were removed from the main navigation bar on Steam “based on user traffic.”
Griffais adds that although Valve acknowledges the fact that “Steam Machines aren’t exactly flying off the shelves,” the company remains dedicated to building “a competitive and open gaming platform.” He also says that the company is “still working hard on making Linux operating systems a great place for gaming and applications,” as they think that “it will ultimately result in a better experience for developers and customers alike, including those not on Steam.”
The truth of Griffais’ words can be verified. The page for Steam Machines still exists, albeit no longer being on Steam’s front navigation bar. A total of four Steam Machines can be seen listed on the page, with two available for purchase and two more available for pre-order.
Additionally, Griffais hints at future endeavors yet to be revealed, as he said: “At the same time, we’re continuing to invest significant resources in supporting the Vulkan ecosystem, tooling and driver efforts. We also have other Linux initiatives in the pipe that we’re not quite ready to talk about yet; SteamOS will continue to be our medium to deliver these improvements to our customers, and we think they will ultimately benefit the Linux ecosystem at large.”
Steam Machines and SteamOS has a long way to go before it can achieve the goal of being an alternative for games on Windows PC and Mac. Pushing Vulkan’s open-source API over Microsoft’s Windows-only DirectX or OpenGL will allow more games to run better on Linux.
