Someone on the Internet posted this:
“PlayStation seems to be going all in on their next gen with a handheld and a home console. Valve is going to also have a home console with their steam deck. Nintendo is doing pretty well. The only one that’s not competing anymore is Xbox. Xbox is dead.”
And this is my response:
Valve is only working on reference hardware – at best. Valve is now in the OEM business and they will not compete with their hardware partners. All that Valve EVER cared about was to bring their Steam store closer to their customers. That is their business: Operating an online shop for games. They are not in the hardware or platform business. They are running a store, that’s all that there is.
The reason why they ever began working on SteamOS goes back to the times of Windows 8, when they were afraid that Microsoft might close down Windows to only allow for the installation of software from the official Microsoft store (which never happened). SteamOS has always been just a safety net for Valve.
And now they can safe themselves a lot of money because they have Lenovo to bring that store front to you. (I happen to own a Legion Go S, currently with SteamOS on it, but I don’t have any fanboy illusions about Valve, Steam and SteamOS. It’s just a platform where I occasionally buy some stuff because I can’t get it DRM-free on GOG.)
That rumored Valve “home console” will just be an AMD Mini PC (basically using AMD notebook chipsets) with SteamOS pre-installed on it. Get yourself a (rerfurbished) Minis Forum HX90G, HX99G or HX100G, put SteamOS on it and you basically can have the same thing right now – those little machines have a powerful Ryzen notebook CPU with a dedicated mobile Radeon graphics card, just what Valve is testing currently. And yes, those little Minis Forum machines really rock and SteamOS runs extraordinarily well on them out of the box.
Sony has lost interest in hardware several years ago. They have invested significantly into their global network infrastructure and data centers. They, too, have been preparing themselves for cloud streaming for years now. They do not see a future in traditional console hardware, they are simply forced to still support it because of their existing customer base. Their internal long-term strategy is very similar to Microsoft’s Xbox strategy: They see PlayStation as a platform – a platform that is not bound to specific hardware (which is the reason why those PC ports of Sony games exist in the first place). It’s only that Microsoft has always been several steps ahead of them with that long-term vision.
For literally several years now, Microsoft has clearly and openly communicated that Xbox is a platform – not a console, not a specific piece of hardware. They don’t care what device or client you use to stream their games.
That strategy fits perfectly into their corporate-wide Azure strategy. As Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, once said: “Azure is the computer of the world.”
As always with Microsoft’s long term plans, things progress a bit slower than originally planned and envisioned, but have no doubt that they eventually WILL get there.
The new ROG Xbox Ally (without the X) was clearly designed as a cloud streaming device while the ROG Xbox Ally X is also intended to still install and play games locally (for those who are willing to spend the extra money). You will see that the cheaper version will sell significantly more units – and you will see that more and more gamers will warm up to Xbox Game Pass and cloud streaming on this device over the next years. And in a few months, once it becomes generally available, every PC gaming handheld will be running this new “Xbox Windows”.
From where I stand, when everything is said and done, Nintendo will be the only traditional console platform that’s left on the market. They have a portfolio of games and IP that people love and that will keep supporting them on the long run.
Never forget that they sold more Nintendo Switch 1 units than Microsoft and Sony COMBINED have sold Xbox Series X/S and PS5 consoles. Also don’t forget that Nintendo sold more Switch 2 units in the first three weeks than Valve has sold Steam Decks in three YEARS.
Nintendo is doing fine, and they will keep doing fine.