4 ms·

That Valve are working on a Steambox at all is pure speculation, it seems a bit of a jump to assume this all in service of a rumor. I think it's more likely Val

by adam-a 14y ago

That Valve are working on a Steambox at all is pure speculation, it seems a bit of a jump to assume this all in service of a rumor. I think it's more likely Valve have been paying attention to stuff like the Humble Indie Bundle guys drawing about 1/4 of their revenue each time from Linux users. They may just be out to make money.

forrestthewoods 14y ago
This is a fairly large and very long play. Right now, two years after launching, OS X accounts for 4.36% of Steam users [1]. In another two years time I can't imagine Linux users accounting for even 1/1000th of that. Valve doesn't make business decisions out of kindness. They make them when it makes fiscal sense. Preparing Steam for Linux is a huge endeavor costing millions of dollars in salaries and an even larger opportunity cost. This isn't just to make a few extra bucks from a handful of current Linux users. And don't be mistaken, the only extra money they'd see is from current Linux users who refuse to buy non-Linux games. If by some chance this converts large swaths of Windows users to Linux they wouldn't be new customers, just the same customers on a different platform. [1] http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
- kaolinite 14y ago
  Valve going into hardware is definitely one use of Linux support, however another is as an alternative to Windows 8 and OS X. Both Windows and OS X are moving towards an locked-down, app-store model and Gabe Newell recently expressed concern over that move. At the same time, Ubuntu is being sold pre-installed on computers worldwide (though less so in the US and UK, more in emerging markets). I'm not saying that Ubuntu will reach OS X's current level for Steam users straight away, but in 5 years or so, it's definitely possibly.
  - ekianjo 14y ago
    Yeah, I would rather believe that way of thinking. Who knows what Apple and Microsoft may do next to lock down their systems further, and extract more "tax" out of everyone publishing applications or games? The only way for a company like Valve to prevent a direct attack on their revenues is to develop a solution for an open system. It may very well be that it is not necessary in the end, but they are just planning for future scenarios like any other respectable company.
  - pepijndevos 14y ago
    Ubuntu is also moving towards an app-store model, be it much slower. [citation needed] Steam itself is an app-store model too.
    - kaolinite 14y ago
      They are however Canonical is not moving towards locking down the OS which Apple and Microsoft are doing (though fans of either won't admit it). That's what Gabe is scared of.
- rat87 14y ago
  > This is a fairly large and very long play. Right now, two years after launching, OS X accounts for 4.36% of Steam users [1]. In another two years time I can't imagine Linux users accounting for even 1/1000th of that. 1/1000? That's just plain ridiculous, at the very(!) most OS X has 10 times the number of users(probably a lot less). Also Apple plain doesn't care about desktop gaming, the only reason they care about ios gaming is that it became extremely popular without them and now it's such a big draw they have to care. I would assume most Apple users don't care too much. OTOH linux users are exactly the sort of geeky audience that tends to be gamers or potential gamers. Your point about the users who simply use steam games on a windows box/vm/wine now that wouldn't add much to the bottom line hits much closer(Although the convenience/reliability of being able to buy games for their main computer could help existing users spend more freely) but I think that it is missing some like those who might use consoles less or those who aren't currently gamers but have decent potential to become gamers and customers thanks to the convenience of buying games on their main platform/pc.
- fafner 14y ago
  > Valve doesn't make business decisions out of kindness. Nobody every claimed that. Of course their support for Desktop Linux has nothing to do with kindness but is pure business. Microsoft and Apple are forcing Appstores on their computers and naturally Valve sees this as a danger to Steam. That's why they want to support an alternative.
- abrahamsen 14y ago
  35M * 4.36% / 1000 = 1526 The first "Humble Bundle" got approximately 20000 Linux purchases. I'd imagine Steam would get significantly more than that at release.
jiggy2011 14y ago
Valve has filed patents on a console controller: http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/05/valve-patent-shows-steam-box-like-control-pad/ http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/05/valve-patent-shows-steam-box... Remember that the idea of Steam on Linux was itself just a rumour mere months ago. Regards the "Linux users pay more" meme on the humble bundle, bear in mind you are still talking about people only paying something like $10 for about 5 games. I assume that Steam prices will stay the same across OSs as well rather than charging more for a Linux version. It's obvious that they are getting more interested in hardware such as the Oculus Rift, also with hardware getting cheaper there seems to be a growing market for people buying hardware/software integrated solutions. Whatever it is they are planning to do, they want to become a first class player in the gaming market rather than being whim to Microsoft who look like they are wanting to produce their own hardware. The best way to do that is to take an already proven kernel with good performance and no licensing and work on from there. My guess is that porting Steam to Linux gives them an eager powerbase of vocal power users to use as a test market. It's the same principle Apple uses by marketing to the "fanboys" first and letting it trickle out from there. Hopefully they will continue to support "normal" Linux distributions however, it would be nice to be able to hook up their controller and a headset to my PC and run everything that way if I don't want to buy a "steambox" or whatever.
- philo23 14y ago
  While its possible that its for some yet unreleased Steam based console, the controller Valve patented is much more likely to be for their recently previewed Steam big picture mode that can turn any computer into a "steam box" that you can plug in your television. It's quite likely this same big picture mode would be used on their console, assuming one ever exists.
  - ZoFreX 14y ago
    In addition Valve have been playing around with biometrics a lot for their internal playtesting, and have expressed interest in bringing that to the living room (for example, the "director" in Left4Dead is supposed to adjust the difficulty of the game dynamically to keep you on your toes - data on your current emotional state and stress levels would be a valuable input for that). Gabe definitely mentioned at one point that there was a possibility of putting some basic biometric hardware into a controller, and they've also spoken about experimenting with new forms of input before (and have supported 3rd party novel input devices such as the Novint Falcon). It's very clear they want to experiment in the controller space, and they have stated multiple times that they do not want to be in the console business, and would rather provide the software for other companies to build their own "Steam Boxes" - yet for some reason everyone fixates on the baseless rumour that they will be making a console, rather than the play that's right in front of them.

by adam-a 14y ago

forrestthewoods 14y ago

This is a fairly large and very long play. Right now, two years after launching, OS X accounts for 4.36% of Steam users [1]. In another two years time I can't imagine Linux users accounting for even 1/1000th of that. Valve doesn't make business decisions out of kindness. They make them when it makes fiscal sense. Preparing Steam for Linux is a huge endeavor costing millions of dollars in salaries and an even larger opportunity cost. This isn't just to make a few extra bucks from a handful of current Linux users. And don't be mistaken, the only extra money they'd see is from current Linux users who refuse to buy non-Linux games. If by some chance this converts large swaths of Windows users to Linux they wouldn't be new customers, just the same customers on a different platform. [1] http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

kaolinite 14y ago
Valve going into hardware is definitely one use of Linux support, however another is as an alternative to Windows 8 and OS X. Both Windows and OS X are moving towards an locked-down, app-store model and Gabe Newell recently expressed concern over that move. At the same time, Ubuntu is being sold pre-installed on computers worldwide (though less so in the US and UK, more in emerging markets). I'm not saying that Ubuntu will reach OS X's current level for Steam users straight away, but in 5 years or so, it's definitely possibly.
- ekianjo 14y ago
  Yeah, I would rather believe that way of thinking. Who knows what Apple and Microsoft may do next to lock down their systems further, and extract more "tax" out of everyone publishing applications or games? The only way for a company like Valve to prevent a direct attack on their revenues is to develop a solution for an open system. It may very well be that it is not necessary in the end, but they are just planning for future scenarios like any other respectable company.
- pepijndevos 14y ago
  Ubuntu is also moving towards an app-store model, be it much slower. [citation needed] Steam itself is an app-store model too.
  - kaolinite 14y ago
    They are however Canonical is not moving towards locking down the OS which Apple and Microsoft are doing (though fans of either won't admit it). That's what Gabe is scared of.
rat87 14y ago
> This is a fairly large and very long play. Right now, two years after launching, OS X accounts for 4.36% of Steam users [1]. In another two years time I can't imagine Linux users accounting for even 1/1000th of that. 1/1000? That's just plain ridiculous, at the very(!) most OS X has 10 times the number of users(probably a lot less). Also Apple plain doesn't care about desktop gaming, the only reason they care about ios gaming is that it became extremely popular without them and now it's such a big draw they have to care. I would assume most Apple users don't care too much. OTOH linux users are exactly the sort of geeky audience that tends to be gamers or potential gamers. Your point about the users who simply use steam games on a windows box/vm/wine now that wouldn't add much to the bottom line hits much closer(Although the convenience/reliability of being able to buy games for their main computer could help existing users spend more freely) but I think that it is missing some like those who might use consoles less or those who aren't currently gamers but have decent potential to become gamers and customers thanks to the convenience of buying games on their main platform/pc.
fafner 14y ago
> Valve doesn't make business decisions out of kindness. Nobody every claimed that. Of course their support for Desktop Linux has nothing to do with kindness but is pure business. Microsoft and Apple are forcing Appstores on their computers and naturally Valve sees this as a danger to Steam. That's why they want to support an alternative.
abrahamsen 14y ago
35M * 4.36% / 1000 = 1526 The first "Humble Bundle" got approximately 20000 Linux purchases. I'd imagine Steam would get significantly more than that at release.

jiggy2011 14y ago

Valve has filed patents on a console controller: http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/05/valve-patent-shows-steam-box-like-control-pad/ http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/05/valve-patent-shows-steam-box... Remember that the idea of Steam on Linux was itself just a rumour mere months ago. Regards the "Linux users pay more" meme on the humble bundle, bear in mind you are still talking about people only paying something like $10 for about 5 games. I assume that Steam prices will stay the same across OSs as well rather than charging more for a Linux version. It's obvious that they are getting more interested in hardware such as the Oculus Rift, also with hardware getting cheaper there seems to be a growing market for people buying hardware/software integrated solutions. Whatever it is they are planning to do, they want to become a first class player in the gaming market rather than being whim to Microsoft who look like they are wanting to produce their own hardware. The best way to do that is to take an already proven kernel with good performance and no licensing and work on from there. My guess is that porting Steam to Linux gives them an eager powerbase of vocal power users to use as a test market. It's the same principle Apple uses by marketing to the "fanboys" first and letting it trickle out from there. Hopefully they will continue to support "normal" Linux distributions however, it would be nice to be able to hook up their controller and a headset to my PC and run everything that way if I don't want to buy a "steambox" or whatever.

philo23 14y ago
While its possible that its for some yet unreleased Steam based console, the controller Valve patented is much more likely to be for their recently previewed Steam big picture mode that can turn any computer into a "steam box" that you can plug in your television. It's quite likely this same big picture mode would be used on their console, assuming one ever exists.
- ZoFreX 14y ago
  In addition Valve have been playing around with biometrics a lot for their internal playtesting, and have expressed interest in bringing that to the living room (for example, the "director" in Left4Dead is supposed to adjust the difficulty of the game dynamically to keep you on your toes - data on your current emotional state and stress levels would be a valuable input for that). Gabe definitely mentioned at one point that there was a possibility of putting some basic biometric hardware into a controller, and they've also spoken about experimenting with new forms of input before (and have supported 3rd party novel input devices such as the Novint Falcon). It's very clear they want to experiment in the controller space, and they have stated multiple times that they do not want to be in the console business, and would rather provide the software for other companies to build their own "Steam Boxes" - yet for some reason everyone fixates on the baseless rumour that they will be making a console, rather than the play that's right in front of them.