this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2025
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Linux Gaming
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I honestly don't know what they're thinking. They've been selling hardware with it pre-installed by the millions for years, so I'd call that very public spotlight. They're about to release 2 more new devices. And yet they still have dedicated seemingly no time to improving hardware compatibility or even using their own giant platform to advocate or advertise installing it anywhere else.
As long as their software is compatible with their hardware, Valve likely doesn’t see much value in improving SteamOS at this point. Dev time is expensive, so it’s understandable they prioritise other things. However, I still hope SteamOS receives the resources it needs to become a serious competitor to Windows in gaming PCs.
The value is called money. More people running SteamOS = more money. That's why they made it.
Yes, but what’s the reason why SteamOS was designed to be that picky? My guess is, Valve wants everyone to buy their hardware. Making your OS run on anything isn’t really helping with that.
Valve does not care if you buy their hardware or not. They only care that you buy games on Steam. They're not making much (if any) money on the hardware. They made it to improve the gaming experience, to sell more games. They made it to deliver a console living room controller experience, and to deliver the best possible scenario for Steam OS.
Of course, they also made it to protect themselves from Microsoft.
Making your OS run on anything absolutely helps with that.
That would help with selling games, for sure. If that really is the main goal, SteamOS should receive some compatibility updates soon. We’ll see if that’s how they really operate.
Project scope. It makes more sense for them to make a distro that solves currently unsolved spaces directly related to their market (merging PC with handhelds, consoles, and VR). More scope either means more hours or more spread of the existing hours accros the added work.
They have been contributing alot back to upstream which does help Linux gaming in general alot.
I think so too. It makes sense to start with making it run on the hardware you have. Making it run nicely on other computers would require more time and money. Doing so can still make sense in the long run, but first you need to launch this new product, so better focus on short term goals.
Right. There is probably a certain point where other hardware support is just a happy accident or miniscule effort. Its just there yet for them though it is getting close!
They have been saying the contrary themselves. They don't care that much about selling hardware.