Valve Confirms Linux-based Steam Box

By Catherine Cai
published

Steam Box is coming... and will be Linux-based.

Gabe Newell's already expressed his less-than-positive sentiments on the Windows 8 ecosystem. So it's really not much of a surprise that the Steam Box, Valve's own take on the game console, is going to be Linux-based.

According to Valve electronics engineer Ben Krasnow, who hosted a talk at a conference in December, Valve's got quite a few things to reveal in the coming years. Besides confirming the existence of the Steam Box and that it's going to be based on Linux—making it a lot more clear as to why Valve's taken such an interest in Linux recently, such as porting Steam to Ubuntu.

Besides the Steam Box, Krasnow teases that "the hardware lab has some secret projects that will be released in 2013. We have a good gro[u]p of electronic- and mechanics-engineers and we are glad to build some really cool things."

German tech website Golem.de, which attended the conference, speculated that the Steam Box's release could come as early as GDC in March, allowing Valve the benefit of an early announcement before Sony and Microsoft's revealing of Orbis and Durango, respectively. However, a E3 2013 announcement in June is possible as well, though this would mean that Valve would be announcing a console along a slurry of other big news for the gaming industry.

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Catherine Cai
61 Comments Comment from the forums
  • mazty
    Please bring PC gamers a decent wireless pad that doesn't cost a load or take old school AA batteries.
    Reply
  • 3Ball
    Very interested in seeing how this helps Linux with gaming compatibility. Will be watching this closely.
    Reply
  • christarp
    A steam box is possibly the dumbest idea i've ever heard of. Dear lord what are you doing valve?
    Reply
  • knowom
    This could be the tipping point Linux needs in order to be a full fledged gaming specialized OS at least in Valve's Linux distribution and implementation.

    Windows is so generalized and multipurpose, but very proprietary and not designed so much with modular aspect in mind for standard users which I think somewhat takes away from achieving some of it's performance potential.

    With better developer support it's my belief Linux could certainly be a better gaming OS environment due to the fact it's not proprietary and is open source and as such can be tweaked and tuned accordingly to users individual needs, but without all the bundled excess fluff a proprietary OS like Windows or Mac for example includes.

    It would also probably benefit developers too because I imagine ports from Android would be relatively simple compared to Windows or Mac based ports since it's based off Linux in the first place.
    Reply
  • twelch82
    The biggest issue with Linux still is that there are no distros that are really friendly to end users. Somebody needs to make one where you never really need to go to the command prompt in order to do any common task that needs to be done in Linux. Then it can be considered ready for prime time.
    Reply
  • fonzy
    I know Gabe Newell has said they already have a new Engine developed they are just waiting for games to roll it out on, you would have to think Half-life 3, counter strike..etc will be used to push the new system?
    Reply
  • knowom
    twelch82The biggest issue with Linux still is that there are no distros that are really friendly to end users. Somebody needs to make one where you never really need to go to the command prompt in order to do any common task that needs to be done in Linux. Then it can be considered ready for prime time. Honestly I think a lot of that is probably just due to the fact people are much more familiarized and user savvy when it comes to Windows.

    I blame workplaces and school systems for not teaching kids how to operate Linux the same way they do for Mac and Windows.

    I imagine adoption rates would probably skyrocket if that were to happen because it would no longer seem so foreign and since a broader user base would understand how it works there would be a lot less self learning involved as well when you do need help with something.
    Reply
  • zloginet
    ^^^ Bogus - I would never leave my system to play H3 on a linux based console - unless I had too.
    Reply
  • aggroboy
    Do you think Valve should give out the latest Source engine and dev tools free to developers who want to develop for the box?
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    article"the hardware lab has some secret projects that will be released in 2013. We have a good grop of electronic- and mechanics-engineers and we are glad to build some really cool things."*crosses fingers*
    please be a portal gun!
    Reply