Skip to main content

Valve to launch Steam-centric living room PC in 2013

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Gabe Newell, head of Valve, recently spoke to Kotaku and confirmed rumors that’ve been floating around since March that that the company will make a console-style PC powered by its Steam gaming platform. Newell said Valve would be one of the many businesses releasing compact PCs designed to be the hub of living room entertainment some time in 2013.

Having recently released Big Picture, a TV-friendly user interface for its Steam client, Valve marked an early step toward the goal of a branded PC. It moves all the features of Steam – from the game library to the store with serious sales – onto your TV with full or partial controller support for all titles. Newell said Big Picture, which just came out of beta last week, has received a strong positive response. 

The new PC won’t be out right away, however. Valve is still finishing the Linux version of Steam and then needs to get Big Picture up and running on the OS. That focus means it’s possible that the Valve PC will be Linux-based rather than follow the Windows model in order to have a more carefully-defined user experience. “Our hardware will be a very controlled environment,” Newell said. “If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general-purpose PC.” 

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

In an unusual twist to the race, some of Valve’s future PC rivals in that sector will be coming with Steam preloaded. It will be interesting to see if the Valve name alone can carry it past the competition or if we’ll be seeing some unexpected breakthroughs in the experience and interface from another brand. Valve will also be going up against the next generation of consoles, with Xbox and PlayStation expected to release major new products in 2013. It seems unlikely that console gamers will give up those traditional platforms, but it would mark a huge change in the setup for PC players. The gaming community will certainly be keeping a close eye on the studio’s push into the hardware side. After all, the people responsible for revolutionary titles such as Half-Life 2 and Portal clearly have a good idea about what gamers want.

Editors' Recommendations

Anna Washenko
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anna is a professional writer living in Chicago. She covers everything from social media to digital entertainment, from tech…
PS5 vs. PC: Which is the better buy for gaming in 2024?
A PS5 standing on a table, with purple lights around it.

The PlayStation 5 has been around for several years now, and it's easier to find in stock than ever before. It's also built up in an incredible roster of games, including Spider-Man 2, Horizon Forbidden West, God of War: Ragnarok, and more. Toss in the fact that it's backward compatible with PS4 titles, and you'll have access to thousands of hours of gaming goodness on the new-gen console.

The same could also be said of PC, which is home to thousands of games and can easily be upgraded by installing new hardware instead of buying a whole new console. But if you're interested in gaming, should you buy a PS5 or PC in 2024?

Read more
I turned my Steam Deck into the ultimate cross-platform gaming machine
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth running on the Steam Deck.

I've been playing a lot of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which, as a self-proclaimed PC gaming snob, would have presented a problem for me in the past. After all, a console exclusive like Rebirth just doesn't fit into my typical pattern of gaming, which oscillates between desktop at home and Steam Deck on the go.

But I've found a solution, opening up the world of third-party apps and breaking the mold for the Steam Deck. It's allowed me to game far beyond my Steam library, revealing the immense versatility that is latent in the Steam Deck's design.
Streaming your PS5

Read more
OneDrive is ruining my PC gaming setup
The OneDrive app on a Windows PC.

I don't use OneDrive, but Microsoft is hellbent on making sure I do. When you set up a new PC, OneDrive automatically starts syncing files based on the Microsoft account you sign in with. This isn't normally a problem, but if you're a PC gamer who switches devices often, it can cause quite a headache.

It's not an impossible problem to overcome, and you can always turn OneDrive off. But as someone who bounces around PCs often, I wish that Microsoft's cloud storage service was opt-in instead of opt-out.
Creating conflict

Read more