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[Last Hearth]

IMO it would be the SteamBox.

Think about it, a more powerful mini-pc running a more powerful version of the SteamDeck OS connected to your TV.

Can play all the games on Steam which means no Sony exclusive game is beyond its reach.

So you can play any game that the PS can play ( some will be delayed and require a waiting period), but you can also play thousands of games that the PS can’t. Plus all your games you’ve previously bought on Steam carries over, and all your purchases will carry over to a more powerful gaming PC if in you decide to go that route later.

Honestly unless you’re one of those that must play Sony first party games day one, it would be a no brainer to buy the SteamBox at relatively competitive prices to a PlayStation.

 

[Fabieter]

Sony is its own biggest threat, but a Steambox would pose a significant challenge as well.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Another person has reinvented the PC.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Competition is healthy for consumers, but Steam is an open platform, they're not in the habit of making exclusives or paying for exclusivity unlike others and thats not going to change, hopefully. So.. I dont see how theyre a threat to Sony? If anything they've been a huge sale boost to Sony and it's shocking it took Sony so many years to realize that.

 

[Duchess]

IMO it would be the SteamBox.

So, a machine that connects to Steam, if you will.

Or, a Steam Machine, if you prefer?

Steam Machine (computer) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Skifi28]

Ok.

 

[drganon]

 

[gerth666]

Steambox doesn't work because it's not modular, you can't upgrade it. That's the best thing about pc gaming. It's an expensive upfront bit of kit, yet just like console after a year or so new tech makes it dated. Console type hardware just will not work for pc gamers. Consoles work because they are subsidized by the manufacturer, and they make so many, they cost reduce over time.

 

[VitoNotVito]

Didn’t they try that route already?

 

[THE DUCK]

Didn’t they try that route already?

No, not really. It wasn't thier own hardware, it was glorified overpriced PC's that were not plug and play like steam OS is now. So a new lauch of thise would be very different.
I could see valve launching this perhaps with the new Halo Strix chip. Perhaps with an add on dock for beefier CPU's if you want to supercharge it down the road.

 

[midnightAI]

A bit presumptuous to say that MS are going third party, they may well do if their next hardware is a failure, but I think you've jumped the gun a bit.

But to answer your question, Steam Box? no, the biggest threat to Sony outside of the existing threats of MS, Nintendo and PC's is Sony itself. (there is no current evidence they will screw it up, but who knows)

Edit: besides the obvious first party games as you mentioned, I think there is a mindset that home console = PlayStation at the moment due to Nintendo changing tack and going the handheld/hybrid route, so to break that could be tricky as XBox found out. PlayStation is marketed everywhere.

 

[Zathalus]

It won't be, fundamentally PC and consoles are different experiences.

Steam Deck is popular but it's not even a blip on Nintendo's radar.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

The threat is someone new with actual competency, show up as the competitor. Once Xbox fully exit the market, there will be oxygen for Amazon or Apple or Facebook to take a crack at it.

They had been waiting for Xbox to die for a decade now, they are getting impatient.

 

[evanft]

IMO it would be the SteamBox.

Stopped reading right here.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

The threat is someone new with actual competency, show up as the competitor. Once Xbox fully exit the market, there will be oxygen for Amazon or Apple or Facebook to take a crack at it.

They had been waiting for Xbox to die for a decade now, they are getting impatient.

Didn’t Amazon already try and fail with their software and hardware attempts? Facebook (Meta) bet on VR and Apple have their Apple Arcade which I’m sure has tempered any enthusiasm in moving more into gaming.

 

[GymWolf]

I'm sure sony is shitting its pants as we speak.

 

[Roxkis_ii]

Isn't every computer with steam installed a steam box?

Why would Valve need to make a console??

 

[dragonyeuw]

I don't see that concept as being a threat to Sony, but if Valve produced a $500-800 'Steam Box' where you can at least upgrade the SSD and RAM? I absolutely would buy one, probably before I bought another PlayStation and most certainly another Xbox.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

Didn’t Amazon already try and fail with their software and hardware attempts? Facebook (Meta) bet on VR and Apple have their Apple Arcade which I’m sure has tempered any enthusiasm in moving more into gaming.

There was no room on stage for as long as Xbox hang on by their fingernails. No one wants to come 4th in the console race.
The equation changes when Xbox officially exits.

 

[Wildebeest]

The biggest threat is TikTok and Roblox just as it was last year.

 

[Ogbert]

You’ve just described a PC.

 

[Loomy]

Valve is not going to start developing and selling custom build PCs running Linux.

 

[Majukun]

steamboxes were a bad idea before and are a bad idea now.

there's a reason why consoles are cheaper to produce than pcs even when their architecture gets similiar and similiar to a pc..they are massproduced.

steamboxes are basically just more expensive consoles that you can't upgrade or use for something more than playing unlike a PC

worst of both worlds

 

[SJRB]

If this is the biggest threat to Sony then they have nothing to worry about.

 

[feynoob]

The biggest threat to Sony now is their management.​

Fixed there OP. Any big empire is soon to fall down.

 

[TheTony316]

A mini PC with Steam OS is just another small form factor PC.

Sony's biggest threat is themselves.

 

[DJ12]

Surely the biggest threat is still Microsoft?

They own enough studios now to destroy gaming through poor delivery and miss management.

 

[Shodai]

There is a future where Valve sits in the middle of two behemoths, gulping up 30% of revenue compliments of Sony/MS. All the while Sony/MS grow into unmanageable blobs, hoovering up every IP and studio they can, as they are only relevant as content producers.

Massive-scale gaming conglomerates have a > 0% chance of crashing and burning in historic fashion on this path. You can almost see it coming.

 

[Hudo]

Sony is its own biggest threat,

This is actually true.

 

[RoboFu]

Nintendo is the largest gaming company by market cap at $53.69 billion.

 

[duck_sauce]

Sony without competition turns into arrogant Sony which will in time create a shitstorm.

Sony has only themself to fear

 

[Mahavastu]

Valve is not going to start developing and selling custom build PCs running Linux.

why not? With the Steamdeck they showed the way and I expect they learned a lot on the way.
Think of such a Steambox with console like performance and similar easy use for a similar price, which they upgrade with a new version around every 4 years (2 generations better graphic card) and distribute it widely. I doubt it would do worse than the current XBox.

Another potential thread could be Nintendo. If the rumored performance (around PS4 Handheld, PS4 pro docked before DLSS, 12GB Ram) for the new switch are about correct, then it would be way easier then with the current switch to bring 3rd party games to it.
We see what they can sell today with crappy hardware and not many major 3rd party games, so with the major 3rd party games it could be even more.

 

[Aloy's Bad Hair Day]

This:

The biggest threat is TikTok and Roblox just as it was last year.

And this:

The biggest threat to Sony now is their management​

Fixed there OP. Any big empire is soon to fall down.

Sony’s main competition is any other leisure activity that sucks time up.

Sony’s main threat is shooting itself in the foot like the Helldivers/PSN bollocks. I would like to know who overruled who on that one.

 

[Hohenheim]

a more powerful version of the SteamDeck OS connected to your TV.

What does that mean? When I connect my Deck to the TV the OS seems "powerful" enough. I think what you're describing is the next Steam Deck.
No chance they'll make another machine that ain't a handheld.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

No.

Sony's biggest threat is themselves. Competition keeps people honest and even more importantly... hungry. We have seen what an unchallenged Sony is like before... and it's already beginning to rear its head now. Every PC that has Steam is basically already a better version of what you are describing.

 

[jufonuk]

Wrong it’s always Nintendo. They had to stop them so they took the PlayStation from them, Otherwise Nintendo would be too powerful.

Virtual boy.

Yeah. It’s true. Think about. But don’t really think about. Because I’m right. After Sega. Nintendo was looking for a worth adversary. Sony did it to Avange sega.

Never forgot the Dreamcast.

 

[Badlucktroll]

I too am beginning to expect and ultra arrogant sony shitstorm

 

[Rudius]

It's PC gaming in general. That why they are making a PS5 Pro that focuses on Ai upscaling and better ray-tracing, the two strongest points of PC right now, especially with Nvidia.

 

[VitoNotVito]

No, not really. It wasn't thier own hardware, it was glorified overpriced PC's that were not plug and play like steam OS is now. So a new lauch of thise would be very different.
I could see valve launching this perhaps with the new Halo Strix chip. Perhaps with an add on dock for beefier CPU's if you want to supercharge it down the road.

Overpriced? Steam machines were priced very low

 

[BennyBlanco]

I don’t think Valve has aspirations to sell 100M pieces of hardware at a tiny margin and provide tech support/ customer service for all those people. They are a very small company compared to Sony and MS. They have under 400 employees. Bungie is a bigger company. They also probably don’t have the pull to make deals for all those chips.

If the worst were to come to pass and Gabe sold Valve to a big company then all bets are off but they seem comfortable to keep doing what they’re doing IMO.

 

[ozz ex machina]

I too am beginning to expect and ultra arrogant sony shitstorm

The PS3 era lol. Still haunts me.

 

[bitbydeath]

Sales wise and gaming wise, Nintendo has always been Sony’s biggest competitor. Some just don’t want to see it.

 

[Metnut]

The biggest threat is the rats internally who will try and push GAAS.

 

[64bitmodels]

Sony is its own biggest threat,

/thread

 

[Punished Miku]

Global warming

 

[realcool]

"you better watch out, sony, they're sitting on couches now!"

i don't think this changes much in the grand scheme of things. giving pc gamers more places to sit might affect peripheral hardware companies more in the long run, if this catches on.

 

[64bitmodels]

Also Nintendo is more of a threat than valve will ever be in this space. I think it's likely that sonys own mismanagement and Nintendos evergreen consistency will kill Playstation off far more effectively than any Xbox or Steam Machine 2.

That being said I'd be open for a Steam machine 2 if we got another controller from valve

 

[yazenov]

I'm sure many things are threatening Sony right now, but this is probably at the bottom of that list.

 

[Kokoloko85]

I agree. A steambox will come in and replace Xbox Consoles soon. And 3rd party companies will come in and make them for Valve too

Nintendo is still making games that run on 2006 hardware, they arent the same. They don’t really play the same generation of games. Probably change next gen, but Steam is the real competition.

 

[MH3M3D]

Whats the point? If you want your Steam library at home, use a PC. If you want it on the go, there are laptops or a steamdeck. You want the advantages of a locked non-modular device? Thats a PS5 or Xbox. Also lets not forget the Steamdeck, no matter how nice it is. It sold like 3 million. If Sony or Nintendo were to sell that amount in the couple of years its on the market, it would be considered a failure.