Xbox Business Update Podcast | Xbox Everywhere Direction Discussion

[Cappuccino]

Steam bringing steam decks to physical stores and making a home console would be big competition to Sony. But I feel that they are being too slow to expand the deck project. Switch 2 is coming out in months and we have proof that Sony could launch in 2 years with multiple consoles at once.

Maybe a portable, a high end console and a PS Vita Tv type of device that uses the portable hardware (this one is totally speculation on my part).
Valve is being too slow, and competition isn't resting on their laurels.

What makes you think Valve wants to compete with the Switch 2? They seem perfectly content making low volume handhelds for people that are already in the Steam ecosystem.

 

[Charlietus]

What makes you think Valve wants to compete with the Switch 2? They seem perfectly content making low volume handhelds for people that are already in the Steam ecosystem.

And I think that's a mistake. In this generation almost everything that could have gone wrong for consoles has gone wrong (covid - semiconductor shortages - Sony going all in on GAAS - Microsoft buying Activision and having to become a third party publisher, inflation), and most of all, Sony not making a console like the series s, with the price of the PS5 being the biggest bottleneck for sales.

If I was Valve, it would be the moment to strike at Sony and Microsoft, but they seem content on selling a couple millions of decks. And next gen Sony isn't going to make the same mistakes, with the biggest competitor being valve instead of Microsoft.

 

[see colon]

Steam bringing steam decks to physical stores and making a home console would be big competition to Sony.

Maybe. I know Steam Deck have captured the hearts and minds of gamers, but, and I know we don't have hard numbers, aren't Deck sales really low when compared to most consoles. I think there was a report about a year ago that Valve had sold 2 million Decks, so we'd be in the 3-4 million range now, if we extrapolate that data. Someone invoked the 3DO earlier in this thread, and I think they had a 2-3 million unit install base as well. WiiU sold 9ish million, PS5 ships 3-4 million per quarter, for comparisons.

Steam Deck can both be a success for valve and still not have a substantial impact on the console market. And it's the same with SteamOS. PC manufacturers have shipped PCs with alternative OS in the past, often even at a discount, and Windows still won out. That doesn't mean SteamOS is a failure for Valve, but it also doesn't mean that it would be big competition for Windows in the PC gaming space.