PC Gaming

Valve hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat won’t promise anything, but he told us “that is something we are really interested in supporting” during our big Valve trip. It’s not as simple as it sounds, he says: What if users pull it off the dock mid-update?

Can you tell we’re excited about the Steam Machine? We haven’t exactly been quiet about it. But it’s good to get the reminder that there’s one crucial bit of information we’re still waiting for, and it all depends on that.

“This is both a peripheral controller for a PC as well as the Steam Machine or whatever else you want to plug it into,” said hardware engineer Steve Cardinali. “Most of the time, your audio will be coming from that, not directly your controller.” Because of that, “we just didn’t feel like it was necessary.”

I brought our Quest 3 to Valve’s offices just in case we’d be seeing the Steam Frame, formerly known as Deckard — and it paid off! I didn’t have time to directly compare optics, but I’d say comfort is superior. It’s noticeably smaller, with controllers that are bigger.

What’s inside Valve’s six-inch cube? We got a dozen photos of the console’s guts, including all six sides.

I told you security guards lined the halls during my Valve visit. CNET’s Scott Stein can back me up. But I’ve never seen guards during previous Valve trips — and maybe they were only there that day. Steve Burke (Gamers Nexus) told me he didn’t see any when he visited.

According to Valve, games are already Steam Deck Verified, they’ll “automatically be verified on Steam Machine.” There will be a Steam Frame Verified program, too.

Since people seem interested on our social media channels: Valve really does have a giant valve at HQ! A huge red wheel that spins in place on a huge screw, anyhow. It’s fun to throw, heavy, lots of inertia keeps it spinning. No word on what happens if you let the Steam out.

Valve showed The Verge versions of its Steam Frame VR headset and Steam Controller with clear plastic shells, and we put together a photo gallery so you can look at them, too. Perhaps Valve will release something like them as limited editions, like it did with the Steam Deck OLED.

I’m not ready to call time on the “everything is an Xbox” strategy just yet, but you have to admit: Valve launching a home console that plays PC games does feel like a potential problem for Microsoft.

IGN’s Wesley Yin-Poole has an excellent interview with Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat, including one reason why they have no news about Steam Deck 2. It’s because yet again, the promised “generational leap” in performance is not yet possible. They haven’t found the right chip.

In another good tidbit about Valve’s new hardware from Gamers Nexus, the channel says that the controller has LED markers that can be detected by the Frame. Pretty cool!

Just for Verge subscribers, Sean Hollister and I will be replying to comments and questions regarding Valve’s new Steam Frame, Steam Machine, and Steam Controller. Ask your questions here, and we’ll be jumping in at about 3PM ET.

The company confirmed it to Gamers Nexus in a statement:

But don’t get your hopes up — Howard reminded us all in an interview with GQ that the game “is still a long way off,” (not until at least 2026, apparently). Though he doesn’t want you to see it coming: