lucadelladora – After months of speculation, Valve has finally unveiled the new Steam Machine. A system poised to bring PC gaming to a broader audience, particularly home console gamers. Despite some concerns about the device’s hardware, particularly its 8GB of VRAM in 2026. Many believe that the Steam Machine could do more for the PC gaming scene than anything Microsoft has managed in the past decade.
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Valve has long made strides to make PC gaming more accessible. SteamOS, the Linux-based operating system powering the Steam Deck, has streamlined many aspects of PC gaming. Removing the complexity that often deters newcomers. For example, setting a frame limit to extend battery life is easy through the Performance overlay. Unlike other systems where users have to navigate multiple menus. SteamOS even allows gamers to suspend a game and pick up right where they left off, a feature not always found on other platforms.
With the Steam Machine, Valve is taking the next step, offering a product that could bridge the gap between PC and console gaming. While I personally don’t plan to buy one, I hope for its success. Many PC gamers, including myself, have become disillusioned with Windows. Microsoft has made little progress in addressing long-standing issues, while focusing on unneeded features like AI integration. Worse still, critical problems such as shader stutter in AAA games have persisted, and Microsoft recently announced it would take years to fully tackle them. This provides Valve with an opportunity to reshape the future of gaming.
The Cheating Problem: Valve’s Challenge with SteamOS and Linux
However, the Steam Machine faces a significant obstacle before it can transform the gaming landscape: Linux’s cheating problem. While the Steam Deck has successfully covered two key pillars of PC gaming—indie games and single-player AAA titles—there’s still a massive gap in competitive gaming. Popular titles like Fortnite, Valorant, and Apex Legends are unavailable on SteamOS because Linux makes it easier to develop cheating software.
In a 2024 interview with The Verge, Riot Games’ Phillip Koskinas highlighted the issue. Explaining that Linux allows free manipulation of the kernel, making it difficult to detect cheating software. As a result, developers have been hesitant to bring competitive games to SteamOS. Valve’s initial efforts to support popular anti-cheat solutions, like BattlEye and Easy Anti-Cheat. Were promising, but many studios opted out, citing cheating risks. EA even withdrew support for Apex Legends on Linux in 2023. Citing the exploitation of Linux for cheats as a major concern.
The problem is compounded by a lack of Linux players to justify the resources required to secure games. For instance, Riot Games reported that only around 800 daily players were using Linux to play League of Legends. Compared to millions of players on other platforms. It’s a chicken-and-egg dilemma: developers won’t invest in anti-cheat solutions for Linux without a significant player base. And the player base won’t grow until developers support the platform.
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The Steam Machine could be the breakthrough Valve needs. According to the crowd-sourced database Are We Anti-Cheat Yet. Over half of the 1,136 games requiring anti-cheat software are unplayable on SteamOS due to Linux compatibility issues. If Valve can improve security and provide a more secure sandbox for developers. We could see major competitive titles like Valorant running on SteamOS. If the Steam Machine gains traction and attracts more players, developers will likely follow suit, bringing their games to a Linux-based platform. This would shift the PC gaming landscape, providing users with a viable alternative to Windows and making SteamOS a serious competitor in the gaming world.
