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Valve quietly removed the Steam Machine section from Steam.
Previously on Steam, if you hovered over the Hardware category there was a Steam Machines link in the drop-down, which is now gone while the links to the Steam Controller, Steam Link and Vive remain. In fact, the entire Hardware page on Steam is now gone and anyone using the link is redirected to a basic search page. Looking back on it and doing a bit of quick research, it seems the change came this month.
I'm not surprised they did this, since currently no one is announcing new machines and the whole Steam Machine idea from Valve never really gained any steam. While it didn't really do the big splash many were hoping, it has done quite a lot of good for Linux gaming overall. As a result of the initial push from Valve, many developers and game engines have moved into doing regular Linux support. This is important, because many of the barriers involved in getting games on Linux have been removed.
We know for a fact that porting companies like Aspyr Media and Feral Interactive started doing Linux versions thanks to SteamOS and Steam Machines, with them both still continuing the effort. It's also likely what pushed GOG to support Linux on their store too, since they didn't want to miss out on the possibility of more Linux gamers to buy games.
Realistically and looking back on it all, the time just wasn't right. There were long delays, not enough "big" games to make people truly interested in the platform (especially when the likes of The Witcher 3 was confirmed and then never happened—still hurts) and various other reasons.
The question remains: What will become of SteamOS?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by vux984 on Sunday April 01 2018, @06:12AM (1 child)
I think the steam OS push was a reaction to the Windows 10 app store, Windows 8 RT, Windows S, and so on with all the signs pointing to Microsoft making a hard push to wall garden Windows, and in turn push Steam out. They saw the writing on the wall, and the steam OS was a way out for them.
When Windows phone withered on the vine, Windows 8 RT flopped, Windows 10 S is all but ignored, and the microsoft app store remains a joke among gamers; Valve realized that they were safe for the time being at least, so the immediate impetus for Steam OS was reduced. It's still around as a hedge against Microsoft, and in creating it they've greatly improved their reach on OSX and Linux, which will help secure their future.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:30AM
Exactly! My moment of realization came when I read an article (I am finding it difficult to correctly google for it) in which Gabe Newell proudly proclaimed that the moment he heard his engineers saying that games on Linux run faster than on Windows (~16% gain of FPS), he immediately asked his PR team to publish it everywhere so Microsoft can read it, and his strategy worked because the very next day Microsoft execs called him, and their team worked closely with Valve to improve DirectX so that all such gaps are filled. When I read that, I saw the writing on the wall. Steam and Windows feed of each other, and the whole Steam Machine thing was just a power move. I am not surprised that The Witcher 3 didn't come on Linux (even though Wither 2 did). I will be deeply surprised if execs at big productions houses didn't the same thing coming.