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For Microsoft, the key threat is that the Steam Deck isn’t even a Windows OS device by default, let alone having Microsoft’s Xbox services and Game Pass on it. Valve has used the platform, very successfully, to evolve Steam from being simply a digital store that runs (usually) on Windows, into being a very capable gaming OS in its own right.
That, perhaps more than anything else happening in the industry in recent years, is a threat to Microsoft’s plans for the Xbox platform and gaming more broadly – and if the success of the Steam Deck is a key component of that threat, then creating an Xbox device to compete directly in that space seems like the logical response.
And there’s the real reason why Microsoft cares. The success of the Steam Deck is a threat to Windows because it runs Linux. Also, the more games that run on the Steam Deck means the more games run on Linux.
Microsoft normally solves problems like this by abusing their monopoly and crushing their competition. In this case though, Microsoft is the underdog since Steam is the one with a much larger gaming monopoly. They’re going to have to spend billions and billions if they want to stand a chance against the Steam Deck.
The other enormous problem they face is that Windows is very, very far behind when it comes to technology compared to Linux. Devices made for Linux vastly outperform the best hardware that runs Windows. Even if that hardware was made to run Windows!
Windows is decades behind Linux from a technological development standpoint. For example, Windows is still running the same filesystem from over 30 years ago!
What this means is that for any given portable hardware Linux is going to vastly outperform Windows in basically every benchmark from battery life to frame rate. That doesn’t even include the fact that in Windows you’re forced to install many background apps (and kernel level
rootkitanti-cheat) that takes up memory and slows everything down just to get basic security and play games.Microsoft normally solves problems like this by abusing their monopoly and crushing their competition. In this case though, Microsoft is the underdog since Steam is the one with a much larger gaming monopoly. They’re going to have to spend billions and billions if they want to stand a chance against the Steam Deck.
Oh, they still do it regardless. There was a handheld that was supposed to release with HoloISO (SteamOS) preinstalled instead of Windows to hit a lower MSRP.
Microsoft stepped in (and probably gave them free Windows licenses) just so that wouldn’t happen.
Source:
News article from January showing the spec sheet saying “pre-installed HoloISO”.
Product website with the spec sheet saying “pre-installed Windows 11”
At the same time Linux is eating their lunch on the server side thanks to containers and immutable systems not really being a thing that is possible for anyone but Microsoft to build on Windows and licensing becomes extremely complicated compared to Linux in those areas.
And the mad part is I regularly find Windows games run better on Linux though Proton than on Windows directly - and my Windows partition is only for gaming (no other crap installed)!
Microsoft seems to be trying to transition away from consoles to become a distribution platform and publisher. They’re heavily entrenched in the business ecosystem so the os is pretty safe (for now), but they want to leverage consumer pc dominance to kickstart their gaming division transition
I’m far to be a pro Microsoft but Windows is more versatile to run games. Asus understood it. If you want to play with steam, xbox, gog or indie games. It’s far more flexible than linux even if some huge progress were done.
It’s not versatile at all, it’s just what most games are made for so it doesn’t have to be.
Linux is more versatile because it can play games it wasn’t targeted for.
The impressive part is that some of those games can actually run even better than on Windows.
Yes if you got the knowledge and a recent PC with the right GPU, you can install vulkan and run few games faster. The gain should be around 17%. That’s not for the mass market.
And for a handheld, Linux is perfect. Yeah, anticheat games generally don’t work on Linux, but I don’t want to play those anyway on a handheld. Steam Deck is for playing around the house or on a plane or something, my desktop PC is for more hardcore gaming.
You don’t, maybe. LOL and Fortnite represent 365 million players. That’s the main market. The steam deck is for steam only. You don’t like DRM-free games? Or use a retro gaming portal to launch roms ? Do you prefer to deal with a single company that decides when and which game has to be removed?
I chose the ASUS because the performance was the same, it heats up less so the fan is less active and I can also use it daily as a desktop with a dock.
LOL and Fortnite represent 365 million players
Sure, but how many want to play on a handheld? Or phrased differently, how many would consider that a deal breaker.
I play competitive games on my PC, and single player games on my desktop. I suppose you could install Windows on your Deck if you really wanted to play specific anti-cheat games on it, but I imagine most people looking for a handheld aren’t intending to play big MP games on it, it’s just not the form factor for competition.
You don’t like DRM-free games? Or use a retro gaming portal to launch roms ?
Not sure what you’re getting at. GOG (and Epic) works just fine in desktop mode (Heroic games), and I play the games in Steam mode (external game feature). In fact, GOG has a deal with the dev of Heroic to share a cut of sales through Heroic.
Likewise, emulation works fine. I haven’t done it, but I’ve read articles about it and people seem to really love their setups.
I can also use it daily as a desktop with a dock.
You can do the same with the Steam Deck. I haven’t bothered because I have a PC, but I’ve heard of people that do. There’s also an official dock as well, so that use case is intendeside. > Do you prefer to deal with a single company that decides when and which game has to be removed?
Do you prefer to deal with a single company? Microsoft pretty much has a monopoly on PC gaming, and Valve is the only one trying to combat that. When game devs target Steam Deck, they also make their games playable on any Linux distribution, so while I’m unlikely to change the OS on my Deck, I can change the OS on my desktop and laptop.
On my Deck, I can and do play games from GOG and EGS as well as Steam. There’s no lock-in, and I know I’m supporting an alternative to Microsoft’s stranglehold on PC gaming.
I love that the ASUS ROG Ally exists, but I also think the Steam Deck offers a better experience. Get what works for you, but the Steam Deck has surpassed my expectations (and I love those trackpads on either side).
Today there are many more games that run on Windows than on Linux, that is a fact.
We are talking about a market that is based on existing games, so I don’t see how new machines could get rid of market leaders that work mainly under Windows. On the contrary, having access to Xbox Live seems to me to be an advantage.
You can always claim that you can do everything on a steamdeck, it is not necessarily straight forward and within the reach of the newcomer. Not everyone is a computer engineer or want to push the “switch to dev mode button”.
On the desktop part, the comparison does not hold that we are talking about the number of software in the libraries, or the number of compatible devices. Linux market share for desktops after 30 years is barely 5% of the park. Now, if you just want to start a browser or read your emails, a Linux should be enough.
Since 2013, Steam has an overall market share of +75% on any digital distribution, in Europe this share exceeds 80%. The revenue forecast for 2023 is $56 billion. For a developer, it seems difficult to do without the monopoly exercised by this company. An even less defensible monopoly while the company helps to destroy physical supports and at the same time the second-hand market. Who else has a catalog of more than 50,000 titles? The only competition comes from the publishers themselves and it is lean EA, UBI, … I think it is time to set up a regulation to avoid this monopolistic situation.
The game market is a bit like the music market, if you want to support an artist or a devloper, buy directly from his home site and do not go through a platform.
Today there are many more games that run on Windows than on Linux, that is a fact.
Sure, nobody is disputing that. Another fact is that most games that run on Windows also run on Linux. I don’t have hard figures (feel free to browse Proton DB for specific games), but it’s extremely rare for me to try a game and for it to not work properly, unless it uses certain anti-cheat systems. If you largely stick to single-player games, most will just work w/o any tweaks.
On the contrary, having access to Xbox Live seems to me to be an advantage.
Sure, and that’s exactly the kind of lock-in you seemed to be so against WRT Steam.
You can always claim that you can do everything on a steamdeck, it is not necessarily straight forward and within the reach of the newcomer.
If you stick to Steam, most games just work. In the vast majority of SP games, you press “play” and the game runs, and it works like a console.
If you want to play games outside of that console experience, then it works like a PC, with the main difference that you install stuff through the app store (like you would on a phone) instead of over the internet. So as long as you know how to access the desktop (hold the power button and select “desktop”) and to use Heroic for GOG, Epic, and Prime games, you’re done. You install Heroic, install your games, and you can click play right there. Games tend to work better launched from Steam, and Heroic can automatically add it to Steam for you.
Dev mode is absolutely not necessary and not advised. And the above complication (again, not hard at all) is only needed because GOG, EGS, and Prime refuse to offer their own clients for Steam Deck. They could totally make a fantastic UX on that platform with relatively little effort if they chose, but I’m guessing they don’t because the market share isn’t high enough.
I honestly prefer to use Heroic vs GOG/EGS/Prime on Windows because then I don’t have to deal with those separate launchers. Try it out, it’s pretty great!.
the number of software in the libraries
What software do you realistically want to use on a Steam Deck that you can’t? Are you seriously going to use MS Office or Adobe products on your handheld? The handheld form factor is intended to be a gaming system, not a laptop replacement, and using it as a laptop replacement is far more down the line of “power user” than accessing desktop mode to install an alternative games launcher.
I’ve used a browser maybe a handful of times on my Steam Deck, because using a browser on a handheld is a pretty crappy experience despite Valve going out of their way to make that experience as good as possible (trackpad navigation of keyboard is about as good as I can expect it to be, but it still sucks). Yeah, I could connect a USB hub to it and plug in a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, but why would I do that if I’m already a PC gamer instead of just using my PC?
Since 2013, Steam has an overall market share of +75% on any digital distribution, in Europe this share exceeds 80%
That tells me people really like the platform, especially since Steam does very little to keep you on their platform. They have no exclusives aside from first party titles (and those are pretty limited), they have no requirement to use DRM (and many games use no DRM), and developers are free to sell Steam keys on their own w/o sharing any of that money w/ Valve. Valve literally only profits if people buy games on Steam. They even make it easy to install alternative launchers on their Steam Deck and play non-Steam games within the Steam interface, and you can literally never buy a single game through Steam and still get the benefits of the Steam Deck.
Yes, they have a massive marketshare, but it’s not because they’re locking anyone in to their platform. On the other hand, Microsoft’s Xbox software only works on their OS, their store only works on their OS, and they try to get game devs to use DirectX which is also only supported on their OS (though Valve and the Linux community have done a good job making a compat layer for Linux).
So if you’re against monopolies, you should be against Microsoft, not Valve.
buy directly from his home site and do not go through a platform.
Sure, and you’re absolutely free to do that and still play those games on Steam and the Steam Deck. Try that w/ any other games platform:
- PlayStation/XBox - any purchase sends money to the console manufacturer because of licensing rights
- GOG/EGS - I’ve seen occasional keys available through Humble and other retailers, but not directly through the dev
- iOS/Android - until recently, you were stuck w/ their app stores, but recent lawsuits are changing things so now alternative stores are becoming available (at least on Google, not sure about Apple); still can’t side-load directly from the dev on iOS, but that’s always been a feature on Android (but not commonly used)
On Steam, you have two options:
- buy a key from the dev directly and add it to Steam
- install the game directly from the dev (pretty rare these days) and add it as a non-Steam game
I’ve done both, and both work quite well. GOG can do the second, but AFAIK the first really isn’t a thing.
You can’t even play the top 5 games on Linux due to the anti cheat.
You say that like it’s a bad thing. I don’t want to play games with kernel-level anti-cheat.
No one wants to see a beloved game ruined by cheaters. My purpose is not about anti-cheat. It is about the games leader on the market, those with +100 millions players.
And valve has already won. Everyone else is just playing catch-up, and good luck catching up to a Linux-driven steam-integrated platform. You will need it.
Why do you think valve is under fire from every angle lately? They are winning and winning fairly and some people don’t like that.
Good point! I mean, valve doesn’t even report to stockholders!!! Bad valve, bad.
Yeah I only have used the steam deck, but I imagine the alternative Windows based handhelds feel much more clunky/hacky since Windows has issues suspending things in general, especially games. Maybe they fixed some of the issues on that end by now, but I feel like SteamOS is really the best and most viable option here for these other companies looking to cash in on this trend. Especially since Windows is bloated as is and not really made for this type of thing.
Not sure if Valve does this already, but perhaps they could license out SteamOS to other manufacturers too? It would make Valve’s “competition” more lucrative for them. At the very least, I hope more people start using SteamOS so Linux gaming gets more adoption as time goes on. Valve has done absolute wonders for the linux community with Proton.
SteamOS is free to use for everyone, making it a legit Linux FOSS operating system.
https://store.steampowered.com/steamos
It’s not easy to install for non-technical people though. But Bazzite is, and it’s basically a different “flavor” of steamOS.
It’s what I use, and it’s great.
I support this.
My gaming PC is not suitable for Windows11. I don’t play much, but I do play.
I switch to Pop!_OS in June, did not like it that much but it got the job done.
I’ve been using SteamOS on this machine since mid September and honestly I don’t ever want to go back.
Thanks for the info. Gonna check it out!
Edit: Ok you know what bazzite looks awesome. I’m definitely gonna install it later this week on my main pc and see how it goes
You won’t regret it.
But be aware, it is an immutable distro. This means that it is basically unbreakable (you hear stories about how linux machines can become broken by some update or such, but not bazzite or other immutable distros).
But this also means that if you don’t find an flatpak (or appimage) of a program you need, it can be a little teadious to install it.
https://docs.bazzite.gg/Installing_and_Managing_Software/
Just a warning. The distrobox option is especially flexible and powerful, but you do need to do a little reading up and setting up to install stuff using these methods.
Otherwise everything on bazzite JUST WORKS, especially gaming. And the flatpak store has a ton of stuff, I have never needed anything that wasn’t on there.
I’ve been using Bazzite on my main laptop as well and it’s fantastic.
I even found out that you can create a steamOS distrobox. No real need to use it, but thought that was cool.
The Switch has outsold it by an order of magnitude.
Eh, you’re right, but also I think Nintendo is usually kinda in their own category. We see xbox/ps comparisons all the time, but rarely nintendo, since it isn’t really a drop-in comparison. I think this is a similar case – the switch outsells everything strictly for “handhelds”, but it isn’t really solving generalized handheld gaming.
People made the same excuse for the Wii. ‘Oh it’s not competing with the PS3 and 360. It plays completely different games.’ The same people inevitably turn around and say those real consoles ‘have no games,’ because they mostly play the same games.
The Switch has both a shitload of first-party exclusives, and a shitload of ports. They’re killing it. Their legal department can burn in hell, but the platform is clearly dominating the industry. It’s so fucking good that everyone else is rushing to compete with them.
Exactly, and that’s with decade-old hardware. I bought a Switch for first party games and a fun playing experience. I didn’t buy an Xbox or PS because they don’t offer much of anything over my PC.
Nintendo’s lawyers suck, but their games are fantastic and their consoles are fun to use. I’ll probably end up getting a Switch 2, and I’ll probably continue not bothering even looking at Xbox and PS.
That 1 megapixel brick wider than my laptop? Won?
Yes, they are dominating the handheld gaming market and will continue to do so for a while.
This has nothing to do with your personal preferences.
Let me spoil it for you: Sony’s is a non factor. Their games play on PC, and there’s nothing they can offer over an open platform like a handheld PC.
The only battleground for me will be selling my oled deck and buying a steam deck 2
I bought an OG Deck and am still quite happy with it. I thought about getting the OLED, but it didn’t seem worth it, but I’ll definitely get a Deck 2.
I’m not even looking at other handhelds, because why bother? My Steam Deck experience is fantastic, why change that?
Yes. I want steamdeck and I’m thinking of selling my switch to get one.
Steamdeck owner and cannot recommend highly enough.
Think I should ditch the switch? Or just buy one separately?
I have both but I bought the Switch first. Now it just sits gathering dust if I’m honest.
I just updated and 3d printed new brackets fory kishi v2. I’m gonna stick with that and steam link for a while before I buy anything else. I have an s23 ultra and I want to get my money’s worth out of it first.
What are you using the S23 for?
I have steam link, and a bunch of AAA games for Android , emulators out the wazzoo. I use Samsung dex when I don’t feel like getting my laptop out of the bag.
The only part of my phone I don’t use often is the S pen.
I like mine a lot, but I also have a Switch because I really like the first party games and the gameplay is great for our kids. However, I only play Switch when my kids are watching, when they’re in bed, I’m on my Steam Deck.
Mine is just sitting there collecting dust. My kids have switch lites. And what they don’t have on theirs we emulate or abstain. I’ve got steam link for now I guess.
Windows and linux handheld’s are so powerful and versatile. They are both great portable consoles and decent PCs. I’m using a legion go as a flatscreen and PCVR puck to play in VR anywhere and i freakin love it.
