SteamOS/Linux can have 4000 games in Steam but if there are no AAA on sight it's worthless. Looking at the Steam top sellers charts each week shows why SteamOS is a fail, last week has one game for SteamOS: CS:GO in 10th position and that's all. http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/steam_steam_weekly_top_selling_titles_march_26th_2018.html SteamOS is not needed to play minesweeper or arkanoid clones...

They were expensive. Even basic GTX 960 based machine could easily hit $1000. You could assembly own for much cheaper. Another reason is lack of own Valve's Steam exclusives. No more single player games.

coth:

They were expensive. Even basic GTX 960 based machine could easily hit $1000. You could assembly own for much cheaper. Another reason is lack of own Valve's Steam exclusives. No more single player games.

I agree, for the price you can buy a Xbox One X AND a PS4 Pro... wich both do better...

Now, gave up SteamOS too. And remove Steam Controller and the Steamlink. We want cheaper and better games, not a truckload of ****.

I loved the whole concept and idea of a unified Linux gaming system, but I think what killed it, was the price tag and lack of games (read: development towards Linux gaming) sure we got a few developers out there trying their best to port games over to Linux and most noticeably Feral Interactive, but in the end, it just isn't enough to make me spend $1500 USD on a mainstream entertainment system.

RzrTrek:

I loved the whole concept and idea of a unified Linux gaming system, but I think what killed it, was the price tag and lack of games (read: development towards Linux gaming) sure we got a few developers out there trying their best to port games over to Linux and most noticeably Feral Interactive, but in the end, it just isn't enough to make me spend $1500 USD on a mainstream entertainment system.

Most of the time you don't need to really "port" the game on linux a lot of game just work with tool that emulate windows special stuff. (exemple on GOG you have more linux game than was aviable on steamOS). Steam went wrong with taking a linux and make a distro that work only with Steam "in order to make it easy for consumer"... Well... 1000$ of hardware + a linux based OS = someone who know a bit and that will be frustrated to be locked to Steam (even more that Steam is not a major provider for Linux gaming)... => Fail to target the consumer

coth:

They were expensive. Even basic GTX 960 based machine could easily hit $1000. You could assembly own for much cheaper. Another reason is lack of own Valve's Steam exclusives. No more single player games.

On other hand Steam is one of the worse company for distribution of a game... 🙁

Not surprised because people with gaming laptops can do the same thing as a Steam machine by connecting their laptops to a TV via HDMI. Also Steam OS performance has something to be desired because it was alot worse than Windows 10. There is nothing wrong with gaming under Linux but it's a niche market compared to Windows. OpenGL is another reason why gaming under Linux is weak.

What terrible timing. With the new APUs released and Linux's AMD drivers being pretty much on-par with Windows, they would finally be able to have small and affordable Steam Machines. They could've built a 2700U system with 12-16GB of RAM the size of a 5.25" DVD drive, and placed a $300 price tag on it. I'm sure that'd have sold very well, while offering solid mid-range gaming performance.

Fender178:

OpenGL is another reason why gaming under Linux is weak.

OpenGL is fine, the problem is the sloppy ports. When a game is written with native OpenGL support, it runs fantastic. Thankfully, Vulkan seems to be adopted pretty quickly.

schmidtbag:

What terrible timing. With the new APUs released and Linux's AMD drivers being pretty much on-par with Windows, they would finally be able to have small and affordable Steam Machines. They could've built a 2700U system with 12-16GB of RAM the size of a 5.25" DVD drive, and placed a $300 price tag on it. I'm sure that'd have sold very well, while offering solid mid-range gaming performance. OpenGL is fine, the problem is the sloppy ports. When a game is written with native OpenGL support, it runs fantastic. Thankfully, Vulkan seems to be adopted pretty quickly.

How would that solve the lack of AAA games available in OpenGL / Vulkan on Linux?

sammarbella:

SteamOS/Linux can have 4000 games in Steam but if there are no AAA on sight it's worthless. Looking at the Steam top sellers charts each week shows why SteamOS is a fail, last week has one game for SteamOS: CS:GO in 10th position and that's all. http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/steam_steam_weekly_top_selling_titles_march_26th_2018.html SteamOS is not needed to play minesweeper or arkanoid clones...

Really then what the **** do you call Dota 2, Rocket League, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Borderlands 2 and min other chop liver then?.

yasamoka:

How would that solve the lack of AAA games available in OpenGL / Vulkan on Linux?

I didn't say it would, but such games wouldn't play very well on such a system anyway. I don't think it'd be fair to expect a $300 system to play AAA games anyway. There are plenty of games available on Linux now. Roughly 3/4 of my Steam library is Linux compatible, and most of those games I didn't buy for Linux. It's not uncommon for games in my wishlist to get ported to Linux (actually, that just happened today - Everspace just got ported). The problem with the way you're looking at this is the same problem Nintendo gets: you're expecting the platform to be something it isn't supposed to be. If AAA games are all you care about, why would you buy a cheap low-end device using an OS that you don't care about? Why should there be yet another boring competitor to XB1 or PS4? On that note, Linux itself suffers the same problem. Windows users move to it "because it's free and doesn't get viruses" or the funky special effects. Then, they start whining that it doesn't do things the way they're used to, or that they can't run the same programs. If Linux were just a free replica of Windows, MS would be out of business. When you use a different platform, adjustments and sacrifices are to be expected. And in turn, you will eventually come to release there are other benefits.

If Valve really wanted for Steam machines to take off, they would have released Half-Life 3 for it. But it's sad when you look at gaming performance comparisons, and Linux is usually much worse than Windows. It's also a pity for Linux when you have DOOM and Wolfenstein using Vulkan but still Windows only.

schmidtbag:

I didn't say it would, but such games wouldn't play very well on such a system anyway. I don't think it'd be fair to expect a $300 system to play AAA games anyway.

$30 on top for a Windows OEM license and you would have the ability to play older DirectX-only games as well as newer AAA games at reduced settings. Can't see why a $300 system wouldn't be able / expected to pull that off - the PS4 does that at a similar, if not lower, price point. Why would someone buy a $300 machine that can't play AAA games over a $300 console that can, has a solid online community, is tried and tested, and even has exclusives?

There are plenty of games available on Linux now. Roughly 3/4 of my Steam library is Linux compatible, and most of those games I didn't buy for Linux. It's not uncommon for games in my wishlist to get ported to Linux (actually, that just happened today - Everspace just got ported).

What sort of games? Give some examples.

The problem with the way you're looking at this is the same problem Nintendo gets: you're expecting the platform to be something it isn't supposed to be. If AAA games are all you care about, why would you buy a cheap low-end device using an OS that you don't care about? Why should there be yet another boring competitor to XB1 or PS4?

Yet Nintendo now, with the Switch, has all sorts of AAA games getting ported. While they had previously stuck with exclusives, which is what the platform had been then, now it's getting games like DOOM, Rocket League, Skyrim, etc... it's perhaps the most successful handheld console of all time if it keeps up with demand.

On that note, Linux itself suffers the same problem. Windows users move to it "because it's free and doesn't get viruses" or the funky special effects. Then, they start whining that it doesn't do things the way they're used to, or that they can't run the same programs. If Linux were just a free replica of Windows, MS would be out of business.

Which is exactly why a Steam Machine that does not ship with Windows cannot possibly compete. Most AAA games run only on Windows. There isn't another way to do it unless you use Wine, and that has its own performance / legal implications if at all offering support for certain features in some DirectX games.

When you use a different platform, adjustments and sacrifices are to be expected. And in turn, you will eventually come to release there are other benefits.

The sacrifices are too extreme to let the product be successful if it remains on Linux. You'd have to look at each and every game and then be content with the fact that you simply won't be getting to play the game because you decided to spend your hard-earned cash on a machine that only runs certain games. While this already happens with console exclusives that one cannot play on PC, the exclusive franchises are often well-known and a consumer could make their decision before buying a console or PC.

Yxskaft:

If Valve really wanted for Steam machines to take off, they would have released Half-Life 3 for it.

Haha if HL3 were first released as a SteamOS exclusive, I'm pretty sure that would get a lot of people to try it out. I was thinking that a good way to sell Steam Machines would be to include a bundle of games with them. They're kinda meant to be entry-level gaming systems so getting something like the Orange Box or one of the Humble Bundles would be enticing.

But it's sad when you look at gaming performance comparisons, and Linux is usually much worse than Windows. It's also a pity for Linux when you have DOOM and Wolfenstein using Vulkan but still Windows only.

It's not much worse, but it is noticeably worse, and only in games where they were ported to OpenGL rather than natively support OpenGL. Most of the time, it's not hard to get 60FPS. So far the only AAA game I have that gets frame drops (with my R9 290) is Shadow of Mordor.

As an avid gamer, I thought it was a good idea, but as soon as they were out of the gate, they were looking really unattractive in all respects.

yasamoka:

$30 on top for a Windows OEM license and you would have the ability to play older DirectX-only games as well as newer AAA games at reduced settings. Can't see why a $300 system wouldn't be able / expected to pull that off - the PS4 does that at a similar, if not lower, price point. Why would someone buy a $300 machine that can't play AAA games over a $300 console that can, has a solid online community, is tried and tested, and even has exclusives?

Uh... since when can you build a modern $300 PC (with or without Windows) that can play AAA games as well as a PS4 at the same detail settings?

What sort of games? Give some examples.

There has already been examples provided... Doesn't take much effort to do the research yourself: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2363780/software-games/linux-gaming-rising-7-big-name-pc-games-that-now-call-linux-home.html#slide1 http://store.steampowered.com/linux#p=0&tab=TopSellers

Yet Nintendo now, with the Switch, has all sorts of AAA games getting ported. While they had previously stuck with exclusives, which is what the platform had been then, now it's getting games like DOOM, Rocket League, Skyrim, etc... it's perhaps the most successful handheld console of all time if it keeps up with demand.

To my knowledge, the Switch doesn't really have any more or less AAA titles than Linux. My point was more focused on the Wii days, where people ridiculed the system for not having games it was never meant to have, which is ridiculous.

Which is exactly why a Steam Machine that does not ship with Windows cannot possibly compete. Most AAA games run only on Windows. There isn't another way to do it unless you use Wine, and that has its own performance / legal implications if at all offering support for certain features in some DirectX games.

It seems you missed my point - you keep thinking AAA titles are all that matters, as though a gaming platform might as well not exist unless you get to play CoD, Battlefield, NFS, FIFA, NFS, or whatever. If you don't like it, fine - nobody is forcing you to buy it. But has it ever occurred to you that your preferences aren't everyone's? Steam Machines didn't fail simply because of the lack of AAA titles. They failed because: * The lack of titles, period (when they were first released) * They were way too expensive for not having any major advantages over other systems * They were poorly maintained with lots of usability issues But with a $300 2700U system (maybe even cheaper), none of those things would be a problem anymore.

While this already happens with console exclusives that one cannot play on PC, the exclusive franchises are often well-known and a consumer could make their decision before buying a console or PC.

By saying that, how do you not see my point? The reason you buy a different system is because of what separates it from the rest. If you want a system strictly because of its ability to play AAA games, you already have plenty of options for that. We don't need another one. Anyway, right now the major disadvantage of SteamOS/Linux is there aren't any exclusives. There are benefits to using it over Windows, but aside from the lower price, there's not enough of an incentive.

Steam machines were doomed since the beginning thanks to Valve´s greed. They complained that MS were making a closed ecosystem that would prevent Valve an others from offering their services because of Windows store and what was their answer? To release a "closed" OS, almost like MS... And to make things better, the damn things were expensive as hell!... So no surprise that the idea didn´t work. But i believe that the concept of gaming in Linux has lots of potential but instead of trying to sell hardware for people to do that, they should try to create a software solution that allows everyone that wants to play games in Linux free of hassles and performance issues. If they can manage that, then maybe gaming in Linux could become serious.

H83:

Steam machines were doomed since the beginning thanks to Valve´s greed. They complained that MS were making a closed ecosystem that would prevent Valve an others from offering their services because of Windows store and what was their answer? To release a "closed" OS, almost like MS... And to make things better, the damn things were expensive as hell!...

You do know SteamOS is literally open-source, right? To my knowledge, it doesn't restrict you from using other DRMs. However, I do take your point that it was slightly hypocritical of Valve. On the other hand, Steam is pretty much Valve's main source of income; the same cannot be said of MS and the Windows Store.

instead of trying to sell hardware for people to do that, they should try to create a software solution that allows everyone that wants to play games in Linux free of hassles and performance issues.

They are doing that. That's kinda the point of SteamOS (which was supposed to give you a gaming-ready setup out-of-the-box). Also, Valve is known to contribute toward GPU and input drivers, among other things to help improve the user experience. They make a lot of contributions toward Vulkan and VR, too.

H83:

Steam machines were doomed since the beginning thanks to Valve´s greed. They complained that MS were making a closed ecosystem that would prevent Valve an others from offering their services because of Windows store and what was their answer? To release a "closed" OS, almost like MS... And to make things better, the damn things were expensive as hell!... So no surprise that the idea didn´t work. But i believe that the concept of gaming in Linux has lots of potential but instead of trying to sell hardware for people to do that, they should try to create a software solution that allows everyone that wants to play games in Linux free of hassles and performance issues. If they can manage that, then maybe gaming in Linux could become serious.

Valve´s has nothing to do with greed after all it free to any one to used on there own system build. The real problem was Intel and AMD and there lack of driver support even to this day AMD still has no AMDGPU-Pro Control Panel in the latest drivers and only the Crimson Edition had it.