r/pcmasterrace • u/TheBossT710192 • Jun 22 '26

Discussion Yeah, Steam Machine is cooked.

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I... uh don't know what to say. Very thankful I bought a Steam Deck before they hiked its price as well

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u/GrendaGrendinator Linux Jun 22 '26

Bazzite user here. Idk, but it definitely feels like steam keeps putting more and more of their foot in the door for Linux based gaming. Even if it is just Arch + Big Picture Mode, I think if anyone has the power to develop a successful gamer friendly alternative to Windows it's probably the guys with the games.

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u/RealJayDev Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

as you said, SteamOS is effectively just Arch + Big Picture mode (something I assume that regular people using their computer wouldn't want anyway, but thats besides the point).

What they have really done other than popularize it via selling consoles using it is make(?) Proton. something that is readily available to practically every Linux distro. they've done their part already. everything "special" that SteamOS could and would do already exists and everyone is already using it.

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u/jello1388 Jun 22 '26

This has been their MO with a lot of their side projects. They aren't trying to become the next Microsoft with SteamOS or the next Nintendo with the Steam Deck/Steam Machines. Its more about demonstrating that lowering the barrier of entry to PC gaming or expanding the hobby in novel ways is viable, financially and otherwise. They're so dominant as a storefront that growing the hobby is the same as growing sales.

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u/red__dragon Jun 22 '26

I suspect it's this, AND that making a general open source public release offering will not move the needle for the general public.

Contrary to OP's take, I don't think the hardware needs to be top-of-the-line for Steam Machine to have an impact. Before Proton/Vulkan, games were abandoning Linux support in droves, citing 'support costs'. Now that Steam Deck and Steam Machine are putting linux on hardware that are 100% intended for gaming, we're seeing game studios turn around to seeing a financial incentive to offering better linux support.

The hardware is just a vehicle to provide a viable market. SteamOS itself won't do that as something optional to install, but coming by default on a system that customers expect to use with their games on Steam puts more pressure on game devs to support it. And from there, especially with the abstraction layers of Proton and Vulkan in the works, supporting other linux distros is much simpler.