Valve's new hardware will NOT be loss leaders

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩

Can everyone please stop claiming and speculating that Valve’s new hardware will be loss leaders? If you watch LTT and Gers Nexus’s first videos on the announcement, they actually apoke with Valve’s engineers. And the Valve representatives already said that the new hardware WILL NOT BE LOSS LEADERS.

There isn’t even evidence that the Steam Deck was a loss leader. All GabeN said was that the lowest cost launch model was priced “painfully”, which doesn’t necessarily mean it was sold at a loss, it could easily have been sold at a very tight margin.

And no, low margins does not meet the definition of a loss leader. A loss leader is a product sold below cost, in that every unit sold actually costs the seller money.

I get the desire to speculate on new hardware. It’s fun and it helps pass the time until we hear more info from Valve. But there’s limits to what is reasonable. Valve has already stated that the new hardware won’t be loss leaders, so hoping and/or claiming they are isn’t reasonable.

Sorry for the rant, but all of the comments that seem to have only skimmed headlines are quickly getting to me

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DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
We could, you know, just wait and see.

*ducks*

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- ivanafterall@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  WHY YOU LITTLE…
  
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- NOT_RICK@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  But will the new valve hardware help fill the empty pit in my chest?
  
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  - sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Sure, if you eat it.
    
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- PumaStoleMyBluff@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  If you don’t have a rigid and openly hostile opinion within 3 seconds of a new product announcement, you are an anti-capitalist commie!!
  
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- someguy3@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  … Duck… Goose.
  
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  - Zoot@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Grey duck*
    
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  - n0respect@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Duck Game? Goose Game? OMG … Duck Duck Goose Game! I will be a billionaire
    
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- echodot@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I would be happy to wait and see but idiots online keep trying to insist it’ll be $2,000 even though the hardware isn’t close to worth that much. Some of these people are big influencers and really should know better.
  
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  - sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Nah, it’ll probably be $800-1k. It’s basically a 7600 CPU + RX7600 GPU or whatever, and it’s not really upgradeable. So somewhere between the Series S and X in performance, and not subsidized by game sales.
    
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  - ClassifiedPancake@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    So what exactly does that change? Value already decided the price and that is what you will have to pay. Who cares what anyone ever predicted?
    
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- SeductiveTortoise@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  but… I want it now?
  
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squaresinger@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
It can’t be a loss leader.

The steam machine is, hardware-wise, just a regular Mini-PC. Valve even lets you put whatever OS you want on there. So if this was a loss leader, that would mean that non-gamers and even small businesses would buy these, would install Windows on them and use them as office PCs, with Steam probably not even installed on the PC.

With the Steam Deck, the form factor made it impractical or at least really weird to use them as office PCs. The steam machine doesn’t have that issue.

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- entwine@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Lol this reminds me of that time the US Air Force built a giant compute cluster using PlayStation 3s. Idk if Sony sold those at a loss, but they certainly didn’t see any game purchases coming from the US Department of Defense
  
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  - UnsavoryMollusk@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I guess this small articles provides us with the beginning of an answer? engadget.com/2010-02-05-playstation-3-still-a-los…
    
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- Datz@szmer.info ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I was thinking that they might require a Steam account to order, the same way they stopped scalpers for Steam Deck, but there’d be ways around that.
  
  It’d be hilarious if you needed something like “profile level 10” to order though.
  
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  - StopSpazzing@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Ohhh only allowed to buy steam level / 10 whole numbers only. I could get 9. Woot.
    
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  - pory@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    This part’s basically guaranteed, yeah. But there’s a secondhand market and also surely some scalping companies saw the Deck launch and went yknow what? It doesn’t cost us much in the long run to make a few hundred Steam accounts now and buy some $0.10 team fortress hat on them just in case Valve does the incredibly predictable thing of releasing more desirable hardware.
    
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- Joelk111@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Exactly, but I don’t see anything keeping them from selling the Frame at a loss or tight margin. What else are you going to use that with but Steam games?
  
  Even the Steam Controller is useless without Steam Input, but I’d argue it won’t necessarily sell more games. Maybe they could include it with the Steam Machine for “free” to bump the price of the machine up enough to not make sense for a company, but still sell it at a tight margin to sell more games.
  
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  - Don_alForno@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Why would they sell any hardware at a loss at all? Console manufacturers do it to lock people into their ecosystem and sell them games at a premium, Valve doesn’t need that, people are already overwhelmingly favoring their store.
    
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- Stefan_S_from_H@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Was it confirmed that you can install Windows? The video said software, I don’t remember that you could install any operating system. It comes with an Arch Linux.
  
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  - Stefan_S_from_H@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I found an answer on the Steam Machine page: Yes, Steam Machine is optimized for gaming, but it’s still your PC. Install your own apps, or even another operating system. Who are we to tell you how to use your computer?
    
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  - prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You can install Windows on the Steam Deck (psychos), so I imagine it’ll be like that.
    
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  - Tattorack@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Look at their website. It pretty explicitly states you can do with the Gabe Cube whatever you want. Including changing the OS.
    
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  - Skullgrid@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You can install OSX on there /s
    
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- overload@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I see what you mean, but this device is a little overtuned for an office PC, at least GPU wise.
  
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  - squaresinger@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    There are quite a few office jobs that benefit from a decent CPU. Anything to do with images/photos/video/rendering for example.
    
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The_Picard_Maneuver@piefed.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Since they've said it's basically an entry level gaming PC that will cost more than a console, I think the >700, <$1000 speculation is most likely.

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- ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  that will cost more than a console
  
  Is that part of the quote? Because I just saw “priced like an entry level PC, not like a console”, which was more ambiguous than saying “priced like a console”. One man’s entry level PC is $300, and another’s is $1000. I have a mini PC with the power of a PS4 Pro, which I’d easily consider entry level, and it cost me $530 about a year and a half ago.
  
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  - The_Picard_Maneuver@piefed.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It's possible I'm just interpreting the quote wrong. I figured they were making the distinction between "console" and "entry level PC" as a way to say "The price isn't set yet, but don't expect this to be $400-500"
    
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  - captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I’m right now in the process of building an “entry level PC” from components, here defining it as new currently produced off the rack parts, no used, no refurbished, and with a Ryzen 7500F and a Radeon RX7600 “AMD can’t decide whether their cards get an XT or not, so why should I?” I price it out right at $900. To go much below that, I’m gonna have to resort to some jank.
    
    Dumpster dive a core i5 10400F Optiplex, stick a GTX-980 in it, install Linux Mint and you’re making 120FPS in CS:GO for the price of a foot pic.
    
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- echodot@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Personally I don’t think I would say that most people would consider a $1,000 PC to be entry level. To me entry level means something that a kid could save up their pocket money for in a reasonable amount of time maybe with a paper route to supplement. I’d say entry level ends at about $700 just to throw a number out there. For $1,000 you could get a PS5 and a PSVR2
  
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  - Korhaka@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Surely the steam deck is comfortably entry level?
    
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- someguy3@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Not like a console says not a loss leader to me.
  
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missingno@fedia.io ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Console manufacturers sell at a loss because they need to sell the console first before they can sell anything else. They can expect to make that money back on software the user could not have bought without the console.

Valve doesn't need people to buy Steam Machines to get them to start using Steam. In fact, I suspect most units sold will be to users who are already invested in the ecosystem. Selling at a loss would just be a straight loss to them.

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- jj4211@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Probably true, but there is a chance they might convert some console gamers…
  
  But not enough to bet on it with a loss leader probably.
  
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  - Korhaka@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    If it was a loss leader then non gamers would also look to buy it and never touch steam. Doing that at a loss isn’t a great idea.
    
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- Cethin@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Console manufacturers haven’t sold at a loss in a long time.
  
  I agree, it won’t be huge gains directly for them, but even moving people off of Windows benefits them by removing control a competitor (Microsoft) has. I somewhat agree that it won’t be sold at (much of) a loss, but maybe at cost. I’m sure they expect manufacturing prices to go down over time, and engineering was a one-time investment, so sold just below cost doesn’t seem unreasonable to me at launch, which then becomes at cost or above in the future.
  
  This all depends on if their goals for it are short-term or long. Historically, they seem to target long-term. That’s why I think it’ll be as low as they can make it, which they also said they’re doing by only having 8GB VRAM as cost savings. They want to drop the price as low as they can to compete. They won’t compete at $1k. I doubt they’d compete at $600-700. I suspect they’re targeting $400-500, which seems like a reasonable cost for the hardware too.
  
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  - sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    
    Console manufacturers haven’t sold at a loss in a long time.
    
    They tend to at first launch. This article says it took 6 months for the PS4 and a bit longer for the PS5 to stop selling at a loss. It’s no longer the whole product lifecycle, but they are still sold at a loss at least at the start. I think that implies that hardware sales aren’t a major profit center.
    
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  - crmsnbleyd@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Does Nintendo not sell at a loss?
    
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- turdcollector69@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  They may be trying to muscle in on traditional console territory.
  
  Steam has a well tenured reputation for having inexpensive games. They may be leveraging this to appeal to the console players turned off by the all recent price hikes.
  
  I suspect the gabecube may be close to if not, at cost. I don’t think it’ll be at a loss.
  
  Gabe has previously claimed that they developed the index because they didn’t want VR to die and even gave grants the game developers who made VR titles.
  
  So it’s established that Steam is big enough and secure enough to risk cultivating new or disrupting old markets.
  
  Operationally steam has low overhead and insane profit margin. Unless they fuck up the steam store they’re guaranteed massive profit.
  
  If the new hardware flops and they lose a bit of money; Gabe just buys one less yacht and steam ticks on as normal.
  
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  - echodot@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    As you say valve are incentivised to do this because it will move more people over to Linux. I suspect that they want that more than they’re really bothered about hardware sales so while I don’t think it’ll be sold at a loss, because frankly that would be stupid even if they could afford to do it, but I don’t think it’ll be anywhere near as expensive as some people seem to be claiming.
    
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- pory@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  On the other hand, even if they don’t “make back” the loss, you can look at it as: how much money is Valve willing to pay to become a “mainstream” living room console competitor? Lose a couple billion dollars on Machine, but get 400k “give valve money, probably” machines plugged into TVs. Sony and MS have other divisions and they AND Nintendo have shareholder responsibilities. Those conpanies cannot tank a single year of number go down. Valve can, and surely there’s a price that Valve would be willing to play to be “the xbox”.
  
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chiliedogg@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
They can’t sell them at a loss without a locked-down ecosystem. Sony learned that the hard way with the OtherOS support for the PS3 that lead to a ton of them being purchased to build cheap supercomputer ls and never spending a dime on games or software to cover the loss.

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- jj4211@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I think that was overstated. Sure there were some “fun” projects for fun or publicity.
  
  However supercomputer clusters require higher performance interconnect than PS3 could do. At that time it would have been DDR infiniband (about 20 Gbps) or 10 g myrinet.
  
  Sure gigabit was prevalent, but generally at places that would also have little tolerance for something as “weird” as the cell processor.
  
  OtherOS was squashed out of fear of the larger jailbreak surface.
  
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  - 4am@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The US Air Force built the Condor Cluster out of 1,760 PS3s in 2010 which I believe saw some actual use. So more than just publicity stunting.
    
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- Cethin@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  IIRC, the Deck, at launch, had a limit per Steam account, and it had certain requirements. There’s no reason they couldn’t do something like that here. Sure, it makes it harder to convert console players if they do the same technique, but it could be restricted sales based on something.
  
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warmaster@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Cost aside. If they don’t price it competitively between the Xbox and the PS5, the Steam Machine will be DOA.

The Deck is a perfect example of what they should try to replicate. If they don’t do that, it will flop.

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- RicoBerto@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It’s a small computer, it isnt going after the Xbox or PS5 customers. It’s going for the people who want a computer in their living room.
  
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  - Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    This comment is so silly and yet I keep seeing it everywhere. What do you think the Xbox and Playstations are? What is it that xbox and playstation customers are looking for that this small computer isn’t?
    
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  - Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Hard disagree. I think that’s exactly who they’re going after. That’s why they added all the console features like CEC, wake on BT, background updates, etc. etc. and why they gave it a controller-first interface.
    
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- JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’m not sure cost can be set aside from a price discussion when they’ve explicitly stated it won’t be a Costco rotisserie chicken.
  
  With the number of consoles sold this generation, I’m not sure where the limit is for what people will spend to play the games they want. With console pricing has trailing budget gaming PC’s, I could see a number of people getting a Steam Machine in lieu of the next Playstation or Xbox.
  
  What would be interesting to see in the future is the split between units sold to lifelong console players making a change, and pre existing Steam users with stuffed libraries buying one for the couch. If the latter make up the majority of sales, but they priced it like a chicken, that’ll be a problem pretty quick.
  
  Hopefully it shakes out well and indie game developers reap some well deserved rewards.
  
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- pilferjinx@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Is the machine competing with consoles? I thought it was just packaging an adorable sized pre built PC.
  
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  - ag10n@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I think this is the goal that it would be priced competitively with the Pro or higher end consoles
    
    They’ve built an ecosystem that gives you that console experience and if you really want to use it as a PC then you can.
    
    The whole thing screams high quality experience for those that want it to just work or those that want to tinker
    
    They really know their audience
    
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paraphrand@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m aware of Valve being very generous with warranty/replacements of controller hardware for the Index. Even years after the warranty is up. But I think this is because of the major durability issues and known defects that the Index Controllers have.

In any case, Valve seemingly has lost money on a certain percentage of Valve Index kits/controller hardware. Based on how many people I know, including myself, who have gotten replacement hardware from Valve. Sometimes many times for recurring issues.

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- owsei@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Doesn’t the new controller have internal batteries?
  
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  - pycorax@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I think they’re referring to the Steam Frame controllers, not the Steam Controller.
    
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krooklochurm@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
To be a loss leader doesn’t the need to lead to something?

The only way it could make sense that they’re selling these at a loss would be - oh yeah. They’re coming straight for Nintendo / Sony / Microsoft now, huh?

The day I see a steam console in wal mart is a day I will be very happy.

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- RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  For Valve it would ideally lead to a new Steam account being created. Which would make sense if someone got one as a gift or something, naturally they would set up a Steam Account if they didnt already have one.
  
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  - krooklochurm@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yeah.
    
    Also the new offerings are very much something Johnny Joe who has only ever owned a PlayStation, Nintendo, or Sony console would potentially buy.
    
    Of course Johnny Joe would put the entire thing up his ass and die from heavy metal poisoning because he’s an idiot, but his peers would actually use them.
    
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- porkloin@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Some of the third party steam machines from 2015 actually had some distribution to Walmart stores. I saw it in the flesh!
  
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- mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  To be a loss leader doesn’t the need to lead to something?
  
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader
  
  You have no idea what you’re talking about.
  
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  - Nollij@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The very first line:
    
    A loss leader (also leader) is a pricing strategy where a product is sold at a price below its market cost to stimulate other sales of more profitable goods or services.
    
    So the answer to their question is “Yes, a loss leader needs to lead to something”. I have no idea why you think they have no idea what they’re talking about.
    
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Tywele@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I‘m always amazed at the amount of people believing the Steam Machine will be sold for the same or less than the most expensive version of the Steam Deck while being six times as powerful.

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- Deconceptualist@leminal.space ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Just playing devil’s advocate here. I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but there are some interesting factors at play.
  
  The Steam Machine won’t need a screen or battery, two of the most expensive components on the Deck. So that can go into better CPU/GPU/RAM instead.
  
  Valve proved they can make a successful physical hardware product with the deck. That gives them a lot of negotiating power with AMD to get the best deal they can.
  
  Unlike with the Deck, they’re releasing the new gadgets in almost all major countries simultaneously. That means they’ve may have already started manufacturing months ago, and are benefiting from economy of scale at an entirely new level.
  
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  - themurphy@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Steam Machine is also bigger. Small costs money if you want powerfull.
    
    Also, it’s newer hardware.
    
    I also think it will be priced at least a 100€ above the Deck, but I would also be willing to pay that for a console/living room computer.
    
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- TheMinions@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’m fully expecting an 800+ USD price tag. And I’ve made my peace with that.
  
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  - snooggums@piefed.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    That's my average, but wouldn't be super surprised if it was up to $1000 due to tariff and AI shenanigans
    
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  - Anissem@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Please Valve take my moneys
    
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- ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It’s newer hardware in a bigger form factor.
  
  It should be 6x as powerful, that shouldn’t be a surprise.
  
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LettyWhiterock@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
To be fair, I don’t watch either of those youtubers. So I had no knowledge of this.

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UltraMagnus@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Steam’s business model does prevent it from pricing its consoles like Sony, Xbox, Nintendo, etc. since they need the console itself to be profitable, not just a means of bringing in games sales.

It’s plausible that they’re taking into account an uptick in overall game sales from this console - at least for me, I’ve been purchasing new games mostly off of steam rather than playstation/nintendo ever since I got a steamdeck - but you’re right that they aren’t going to sell at a loss.

Regardless of the price (and whether or not I even buy one), I think it’s healthy to have another “big” player in the console market.

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- mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  Regardless of the price (and whether or not I even buy one), I think it’s healthy to have another “big” player in the console market.
  
  Tbh, I think it’d be healthier if the console market finally died and Playstation and Nintendo migrate to PC. Closed off ecosystems are anti-consumer
  
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MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
…the fuck is a “loss leader”?

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HeyJoe@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
On the one hand, i get it. It will be for enthusiasts only if that’s the case. On the other hand, I feel like for the amount of profit this company brings in, I am a little shocked that they don’t even try to cut the price back a bit to sell more. I guess whats the point when you don’t even have to do this at all and it sounds like the entire project is just a fun way to spend some time seeing what you can come up with and sharing that with the people that can afford to buy cool things.

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rafoix@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I wonder if GPU/motherboard manufacturers are not leaving money on the table by not selling an all-in-one gaming motherboard like the one in the Steam Machine.

Built-in GPU and VRAM with the CPU, RAM and cooling optional.

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proper@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
“stop speculating! it doesn’t align with MY speculation” oh ok.

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IndustryStandard@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I was expecting an APU

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SpicyTaint@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
What the hell is a “loss leader”?

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FreeBooteR69@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yeah they said they are pricing the Steam Machine at PC market prices, but they do having to contend with reality. There are consoles on the market that are more powerful at a lower price point, it will dampen their sales for sure. I mean most pcgamers probably have more powerful hardware already, what is the incentive? Sure small form factor, but is it worth a premium price to the average pcgamer? Console peasants will turn their noses up at it, so who are they marketing to?

I can see the Steam Frames selling better due to it being a fully untethered VRPC headset that can play more than just VR games. Not to mention you can stream from a more powerful PC to the frames making the battery last much longer and better gfx fidelity.

The Steam Controller has to contend with a flooded market of users used to using one type of controller, so a little bit of an uphill battle there too.

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hperrin@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Even if they sell at cost, they’re losing money because of the R&D costs.

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tal@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I actually think that, while it’s maybe a fun topic for idle conversation…it doesn’t have a huge impact in the way traditional console pricing.

With a traditional console, what the console vendor chooses to do is what you get. Maybe, as with Microsoft on the Series X/Series S, you get a high and low end model. All the games are made for that hardware, and whether the platform lives and dies depends on it.

But…that’s not really true of the Steam Machine. It’s just another PC, albeit preconfigured for Steam and HTPC-oriented. If you want to get a lower-end PC or a higher-end PC, you have the option of getting one and running the same games on it and save some money or with a bit more visual bling. The games for PCs are already more or less written to scale up and down with hardware.

And it’s not like Valve’s platform is gonna live or die based on the Steam Machine the way a traditional console generation is, where success of a hardware console is high-stakes for the manufacturer and the players in successfully getting a game library going. I’d guess that it might help them make strategic inroads into gaming in the living room. But even if it completely bombs, Valve is gonna keep right on going selling to people to run on PCs (and the Deck) and their game library isn’t going anywhere.

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Acidbath@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

.> what have I done

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colonthree@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Im not gonna make any statements but I think this video might have some credibility. It comes from the person who gave the early heads up for the steam hardware launch :3

youtu.be/sJI3qTb2ze8

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Hannibal@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I thought they originally started their first attempt with Alienware? They gave up. I’d have to see how their newer one is better.

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taiyang@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I agree we don’t know if they’re loss leaders yet. I will say that even if the hardware is priced at a loss, though, it’ll sell more Steam games. Ultimately I don’t know if it really matters.

Though yeah, people should get past headlines. Lol

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spaciouscoder78@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
Honestly I was saving up money to get a PS5 and ditch PC gaming. But then I saw valve’s announcement about steam machine and decided to get a steam deck when I have enough.

It’s literally a no brainer because I can play my current library at no extra cost whereas with ps5 I gotta pay for online as well as the games.

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PieMePlenty@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Isn’t quest 3 sold at a loss? Selling similar hardware at no loss will present a challenge.
Though, at the same time, there’s not much wrong with making low quantities of something and selling them at a profit, slowly.

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artyom@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
People still say this about the Steam Deck 3 years later even though, as you said, there’s no evidence of that, so, good luck with your message LOL

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