The Steam Machines seem to fade away from existence as unceremoniously as they came.

Announced back in 2013, those machines were meant to be akin home consoles but delivering PC-worthy games, using Steam's Big Picture mode to display on TVs all in an ecosystem separate from Windows. Those "PC-console hybrids" would even be powered by Valve’s very own Linux-based operating system, SteamOS! The latter was designed to make it easier for developers to port Windows games to Linux. A much-awaited boon for Linux gamers!

However, as ambitious as they sounded, the Steam Machines never really took steam (pun intended). Several delays (they launched in 2016), ludicrous prices and a lack of flagship SteamOS games made for an easy lackluster recipe. You'd be totally forgiven if you forgot about the existence of those machines! And it seems like Valve has taken a hint and might slowly take steps to phase out the Steam Machines.

As spotted by a user over on GamingOnLinux, the whole 'Steam Machine' section under the 'Hardware' tab has been taken down. While the machines are still listed (for now) and can be found by a simple search, the dedicated section has been quietly taken down. Users can no longer check for different hardware configurations or prices like before.

What do you think? Will Valve phase out Steam Machines or is the company preparing for a Rise of the Steam Machines announcement? Will you miss them if they are phased out or are you looking forward to new machines? Share your thoughts below!

[UPDATE]

Following the reports of the quiet demise of the 'Steam Machine' section from the 'Hardware' tab on Steam, Valve has issued a response in an update post. In it, Valve employee Pierre-Loup Griffais maintains that "that section of the Steam Store is still available, but was removed from the main navigation bar based on user traffic" and that "Steam Machines aren't exactly flying off the shelves".

The post also mentions that Valve is "still working hard on making Linux operating systems a great place for gaming and applications" and that the company has "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".

You can read more about Valve's response right here.

 

[kuwanger]

Everyone knows all the cool kids use cryamore machines. (Still waiting for Cryamore to be released.)

PS - Something did come from Steam Machines. A lot of companies that would have never considered port to Linux ported to "SteamOS" because they didn't want to risk being left out of a potentially burgeoning market. So, yea, I've got a lot more native Linux games than I would have had otherwise. Steam Machines themselves though were always a bad idea.

 

[GorrillaRIBS]

See the posts after that, I did indeed forget DOOM didn't see an actual Linux port, it's just got very good WINE support.

As to Feral, they do some good work porting games over to Linux, but unfortunately it's still "not enough" to really push Linux gaming into a viable platform. They've only ported around 20ish games since they started Linux ports 5 or 6 years ago, which is a good amount to be fair, but what we really need are the original developers themselves pushing Vulkan and Linux support during the original development cycle. Which is, unfortunately, something that doesn't seem too likely these days.

Fair point - even with bethesda/id/machinegames (unsure who makes this desicion) pushing Vulkan they aren't actively porting their games to linux, and not many developers seem too keen on using it over DirectX. I'm still optimistic that it'll see more commercial use though given that it supports pretty much every major OS, so hopefully more developers will use it as it could open up more (though significantly smaller) markets for hopefully not too much extra cost, assuming the rest of the game would translate well (i.e. a UE4 game that supports vulkan would probably be easier to port, as both support linux already). Outside of official support, Vulkan brought about dxvk, which is another compatability layer in WINE that makes d3d11 games run much better on linux, so even if it's never widely adopted at least we have that.

 

[WhiteMaze]

The idea was doomed from the beginning due to the fact that you could get a desktop 3 times more powerful at half the price, rather than a "steam machine" with an Alienware logo on it.

PC gamers like graphics and Frames per Second. Not overpriced logos.

 

[Jayro]

I read that Valve is working with both AND and Nvidia to develop improved gaming drivers for Linux, as well as porting over common APIs.

 

[FAST6191]

Reading the update it seems more like Valve is still invested in Steam OS but less so in the machines themselves.

A company with Valve's R&D budget was "invested" in essentially Linux and this is all we got? OK then.

 

[StarTrekVoyager]

Steam Machines = Virtual Boy? /s