Is Valve the next big thing?

[Oilshock]

The Steam deck has proved to be a juggernaut in the handheld market recently and along with the switch, they have single handedly revived interest in handhelds. With more competition entering the market like the Legion Go, ROG Ally, and rumors about a new PSP and XBOX handheld in the works. It's safe to say that the SteamDeck has shifted focus to Handhelds. But that's just the beginning, Valve has a rumors swirling for a long time about a standalone VR headset code named Deckard and that's not all, a new update to the steamdeck provided evidence for a Steam deck 2, a leak has shown pictures of a new Steam controller, and talks about a possible revival of the Steam Machine. With all the hype around Valve right now, is it safe to say Valve will be the next big thing?

[bean]

to be honest, imo, Valve has pretty much always been the one corp (in the gaming space) that pushes ahead far before anyone else.

I may be dating myself here but lets not forget that Steam itself was 'one of Valve's crazy ideas' in a world full of physical media and torrents. Since the jump, Valve (and then steam) has been implementing bold new ideas that end up becoming the status quo.
(for better or worse, 50 launchers for 38 games, I'm looking at you)

When VR fads come and go and gather dust on the shelf, the index is still a piece of gaming hardware that is head and shoulders above the rest. Let's be honest here, the index is the only VR set that isn't tied to some gimmicky 'garden'. It is a vr headset for games (AND ONLY FOR GAMES, NOTHING ELSE CAN BE DONE WITH VR, don't look at those titles on the front page if you have 18+ enabled.)

When steam machines / steam controllers / steam link came out, the idea was amazing but the implementations floundered. Valve played the loooooong game and took those ideas and turned it all into the steam deck / steam link app. As we now know, the steam deck was slightly successful and may have spawned every other industry giant's ire and jealousy.

Nearly every aspect of Steam has been copied and/or attempted by 3rd parties when successful... and Valve has had a lot of hits with steam.

Whether or not steam machines make a comeback or if valve becomes the preeminent VR manufacturer / hardware developer with deckard, I believe it is safe to assume that Valve will always be working on some crazy new way to maintain their absolute dominance in the gaming space. With microsoft bowing out of the console space in favor of subs and Sony realizing there is a huge market for its IPs outside of a playstation, the space is ripe for Valve's idea of creating the 'console PC' if they can just get the industry giants on board.

If the giants won't budge, Valve will start chipping away at the armor until we get another 'steamdeck moment' where despite decades of pushback, steam launched a linux based console aimed at the masses and it was a huge success, causing the giants to have to double back and re-examine their position or get left behind.

Long story short, I believe Valve has always been the corp to watch out for in the gaming space. As slow and relaxed and seemingly nonchalant as their public facing persona is, valve has always been moving at light speed compared to a microsoft, nintendo, sony. I don't think this will change unless / until the servers go down for good.

[shadowboy813]

Valve has always been a big thing. How many developers got game of the year on their first game?

[PopinFRESH]

Originally posted by shadowboy813:

Valve has always been a big thing. How many developers got game of the year on their first game?

Not only that, Half-Life won more than 50 GOTY awards and Half-Life 2 won over 30 GOTY awards; and Steam has been the most dominant as well as the most innovative platform for PC gaming for pretty much since its inception.

Valve isn't just the next big thing; they are the current big thing.

[bean]

Originally posted by shadowboy813:

Valve has always been a big thing. How many developers got game of the year on their first game?

well hold on a sec, if we are including half-life are we talking just Valve or can we go even further with Gabe?

cuuuuz if we're counting Gabe then you'd have to go waaaaaaaaaay back to the beginning of PC gaming. Credit where credit is due, PC gaming on windows, windows itself, DRM, narrative driven FPS, and many other aspects of modern gaming are ENTIRELY the product of Gabe's projects. Four decades in the forefront of the industry, man.

[dream_smash]

SteamMachine was not targeted at games developed for Windows.
The concept is different from the current Steam OS.

There are no blockbusters that can be played for thousands of hours in VR games, and it is impossible to play for thousands of hours in that outfit.
It will not become popular unless it is more affordable and casual.

It may just be that it has not been crushed by the giant's misunderstanding.
Windows is an excellent OS, but it does not take gamers into consideration, such as requiring an AI accelerator in the hardware requirements.
HDR is also not gamer-friendly.

It may be easier for users to use if they explored a way to bypass something like x.v.Color, which was installed on Linux-based game consoles in the past, for Windows games.

Whether Valve can level up by the time the giant regains its senses will be a test of their qualities.