Sony and Microsoft are destroying console and PC gaming — here’s why the experts think Valve can save the day with SteamOS

Loath as I am to say it, the future of gaming platforms isn’t looking so rosy right now. Windows is increasingly becoming more recalcitrant, constantly throwing hurdles in the faces of PC gamers in the form of performance-ruining updates and unsolicited AI implementations. And in the console world, Sony has irked everyone by ditching physical games from January 2028, while the recent bout of mass layoffs at Xbox belies its ‘back on track’ messaging.

Meanwhile, Valve appears to be going in the opposite direction. It already has a big advantage in the form of Steam, near enough the default storefront and launcher for PC gamers everywhere. Why, it’s generated an estimated $11.1bn in gross revenue in the first half of this year already. With pockets as deep as these, and without having to divert its earnings to shareholders (given it’s still, for now, a private company), that’s cash it can invest in expansion.

So is now the perfect time for Valve to break out, capitalize on its competitors’ floundering and shoot its shot at making SteamOS the next big platform?

SteamOS vs Windows

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Future)

There’s no question that SteamOS has been quite the success already. This is almost entirely thanks to the success of the Steam Deck, Valve’s hugely popular device that launched in 2022 and kickstarted a mini revolution in handheld gaming. It runs SteamOS 3, which is based on the Arch Linux distribution and far superior to its initial Debian iterations. These were used on the original Steam Machines of 2015, and are no doubt part of the reason for the discontinuation of the units in 2018.

The big advantage of SteamOS 3 is its support for Proton, the compatibility layer that allows Windows games to run on Linux devices. Although it predates the Steam Deck, Proton found its calling on the handheld, proving a lot of doubters wrong by running a large library of modern games well on a small, portable device. Even AAA titles such as 007 First Lightand Cyberpunk 2077a…