Valve concept testing new Steam console prototypes for couch PC play

Valve confirms it is concepting new SteamOS hardware for all kinds of spaces, including couch gaming in the living room.

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Valve has had a push and pull relationship with hardware. Its Steam Machines initiative, which created low-cost (and low-powered) PC "consoles" from multiple OEMs largely failed to gain traction. The VR and handheld gaming fronts are very different stories. The Steam Deck is incredibly popular, and Valve's Index VR is largely seen as the best way to experience dedicated, PC-powered virtual reality.

The PC game store operator has no plans of stopping its hardware ambitions any time soon. Valve is currently focusing heavily on its Steam Deck platform, including new model revisions, as well as VR...but it still isn't giving up on some sort of console-like system for the living room.

In a recent interview with The Verge, Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais confirmed that the company is testing new concepts for living room PC gaming. This could hint at a triumphant return of the Steam Machine platform that utilizes everything Valve has learned from the Steam Deck--which is quite a lot.

"We're doing our own experiments, but would also love to work with third-parties to see what they would have to bring to the table as well," Griffais said.

Valve has previously said the Steam Deck is "multi-generational" hardware and that new models are currently in the works. A second-generation Steam Deck handheld would feature more optimized battery life and fan noise controls, but overall performance levels would remain the same.