Valve on other handhelds: "The More the Merrier"

Topher

Topher

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Steamworks Development - Steam Annual Summary: 2023 - Steam News

Our annual recap of tools, features, and data.
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Valve included the statement above in their Steam Annual Summary: 2023.

Makes sense. As the defacto leader in PC gaming, Valve is set to benefit from every new entry that expands PC gaming.
 
Oppoi said:
Playing it smart. All they have to do is keep making Linux better.
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It can't be overstated how much Valve is doing for Linux gaming. If it wasn't for them, not a single major player would give a shit about Linux. Having a company as big as Valve putting R&D and effort into compatibility layers and features is a godsend.

If/when Windows OS goes subscription based, I'm gonna jump ship for good. Linux is already in a better place for gaming than it was even 5 years ago, and lots of that is thanks to the increased interest caused by the Deck.

On topic, I agree, more options and features is always good.
 
Pejo said:
It can't be overstated how much Valve is doing for Linux gaming. If it wasn't for them, not a single major player would give a shit about Linux. Having a company as big as Valve putting R&D and effort into compatibility layers and features is a godsend.

If/when Windows OS goes subscription based, I'm gonna jump ship for good. Linux is already in a better place for gaming than it was even 5 years ago, and lots of that is thanks to the increased interest caused by the Deck.

On topic, I agree, more options and features is always good.
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I agree. One of the things I love with these handhelds is the fact that they provide full PC functionality. So I can move from Windows to Linux and back simply by changing what device is plugged into my hub. So more Linux options in the future will be a good thing for PC gaming overall if/when Microsoft does more stupid shit with Windows.

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Pejo said:
It can't be overstated how much Valve is doing for Linux gaming. If it wasn't for them, not a single major player would give a shit about Linux. Having a company as big as Valve putting R&D and effort into compatibility layers and features is a godsend.

If/when Windows OS goes subscription based, I'm gonna jump ship for good. Linux is already in a better place for gaming than it was even 5 years ago, and lots of that is thanks to the increased interest caused by the Deck.

On topic, I agree, more options and features is always good.
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And it's why Phil said Windows sucks ass for mobile gaming. He knows Valve is ahead of the game.
 
Point of Steam Deck was to encourage more spending on Steam. Other PC handhelds also encourages that. Ergo, it works for them.
 
Just need Sony and Microsoft to enter the arena now.

Not sure about the Microsoft offering, but I'd bust a nut if the Sony handheld is real. A handheld where I can access and download games from my PS library is all I want.
 
It must have been Valve's master plan to have others try to succeed in their wake with handhelds. People say all the completion is putting pressure on Valve to make a new deck, all it's doing is making Valve wealthier. Of course, Valve is ecstatic every time someone enters the ring, and what's funny is it's in Valve's best interest for these handhelds to succeed rather than fail.
 
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Pejo said:
It can't be overstated how much Valve is doing for Linux gaming. If it wasn't for them, not a single major player would give a shit about Linux. Having a company as big as Valve putting R&D and effort into compatibility layers and features is a godsend.

If/when Windows OS goes subscription based, I'm gonna jump ship for good. Linux is already in a better place for gaming than it was even 5 years ago, and lots of that is thanks to the increased interest caused by the Deck.

On topic, I agree, more options and features is always good.
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Ofc they do. Look what is happening with Windows... At the same time Linux people are "very fond" of Microsoft when they meddle in Linux land... The writing is on the wall what is coming for Linux and it's not rosy at all.
 
Sorcerer said:
It must have been Valve's master plan to have others try to succeed in their wake with handhelds. People say all the completion is putting pressure on Valve to make a new deck, all it's doing is making Valve wealthier. Of course, Valve is ecstatic every time someone enters the ring, and what's funny is it's in Valve's best interest for these handhelds to succeed rather than fail.
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Jokes on them. I don't buy anything on Steam anymore and haven't for years.
 
WitchHunter said:
Ofc they do. Look what is happening with Windows... At the same time Linux people are "very fond" of Microsoft when they meddle in Linux land... The writing is on the wall what is coming for Linux and it's not rosy at all.
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Eh.....this isn't so obvious to me. What is "coming for Linux" that isn't "rosy"?
 
Topher said:
Eh.....this isn't so obvious to me. What is "coming for Linux" that isn't "rosy"?
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I don't see what's obvious, either. Linux integration via WSL is very well done in Windows 11 and there aren't any glaring restrictions on how you can use it. Integration with the Windows file system is seamless and you can choose from multiple distros. It's less fun in Windows 10 but still works well.

Microsoft hasn't been meddling in Linux, they've been getting on board with the program and supporting Linux. Linux powers more of the internet than Windows Server does so Microsoft has been making it exceptionally easy to deploy it to Azure with no strings attached. It's much more lucrative to let you use your Linux unmodified and charge you hundreds to thousands of dollars a month for hosting, networking, storage and value-add services like Azure Front Door.
 
ReBurn said:
I don't see what's obvious, either. Linux integration via WSL is very well done in Windows 11 and there aren't any glaring restrictions on how you can use it. Integration with the Windows file system is seamless and you can choose from multiple distros. It's less fun in Windows 10 but still works well.

Microsoft hasn't been meddling in Linux, they've been getting on board with the program and supporting Linux. Linux powers more of the internet than Windows Server does so Microsoft has been making it exceptionally easy to deploy it to Azure with no strings attached. It's much more lucrative to let you use your Linux unmodified and charge you hundreds to thousands of dollars a month for hosting, networking, storage and value-add services like Azure Front Door.
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Yeah, pretty much. My apps in Azure run in Windows containers because of some Windows specific libraries I need, but most folks tend to use Linux containers in Azure than Windows. It's just cheaper. I see more dependencies on Linux in Windows than I do the other way around.
 
The more PC like devices take off the more they sell on Steam, their money maker. The Steam Deck is a hobby, probably selling about 2-4 million and not a major component of their profitability. So their stance makes sense with their interests.
 
Topher said:
Yeah, pretty much. My apps in Azure run in Windows containers because of some Windows specific libraries I need, but most folks tend to use Linux containers in Azure than Windows. It's just cheaper. I see more dependencies on Linux in Windows than I do the other way around.
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Same here. I'm currently working to migrate a legacy app off of IBM Power hardware running in AIX VM's to RHEL VM's in Azure and there are no Windows dependencies at all. Just a straight up RHEL image. Microsoft provides native libraries for Linux that IBM won't allow.

On the Steam Deck side there hasn't been pushback from Microsoft about Valve bundling their DirectX and C++/C# runtime components into the containers it's building when deploying games made for Windows inside Deck installations, which is very much commercial use outside of Windows. There's a lot that Microsoft is screwing with and screwing up, but I don't see where Linux is on that list.
 
Pejo said:
It can't be overstated how much Valve is doing for Linux gaming. If it wasn't for them, not a single major player would give a shit about Linux. Having a company as big as Valve putting R&D and effort into compatibility layers and features is a godsend.

If/when Windows OS goes subscription based, I'm gonna jump ship for good. Linux is already in a better place for gaming than it was even 5 years ago, and lots of that is thanks to the increased interest caused by the Deck.

On topic, I agree, more options and features is always good.
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Compatibility layer isnt ideal, native is. but I do hope this brings more users over and therefore more native games come to linux. indies support linux a good amount which is good.
 
ReBurn said:
Same here. I'm currently working to migrate a legacy app off of IBM Power hardware running in AIX VM's to RHEL VM's in Azure and there are no Windows dependencies at all. Just a straight up RHEL image. Microsoft provides native libraries for Linux that IBM won't allow.

On the Steam Deck side there hasn't been pushback from Microsoft about Valve bundling their DirectX and C++/C# runtime components into the containers it's building when deploying games made for Windows inside Deck installations, which is very much commercial use outside of Windows. There's a lot that Microsoft is screwing with and screwing up, but I don't see where Linux is on that list.
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Ah man.....that sounds like a cool gig you are working on. Mine is all .Net so quite a bit simpler considering I wrote it from scratch for Azure.

I believe Proton technically has all the MS runtime components so that gives Valve a little separation from the legalese. That's what I read somewhere anyway. No idea if true.

edit: Found some explanations on how this works.



Sounds like they just ported everything to Vulcan while still exposing the same interfaces. Impressive stuff. Don't think there is anything MS can do about that.
 
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This is why I need the MS Surface team/Xbox to make a portable console. Because once they do, they will finally put more importance on features that can help the Windows 11 interface be better on handhelds.
 
March Climber said:
This is why I need the MS Surface team/Xbox to make a portable console. Because once they do, they will finally put more importance on features that can help the Windows 11 interface be better on handhelds.
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For all the shit that Microsoft gets, I do think their hardware team can put out a pretty good handheld device.
 
Hudo said:
For all the shit that Microsoft gets, I do think their hardware team can put out a pretty good handheld device.
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Ever since the 2009 Zune I've never had a bad experience with a Microsoft hardware product. Even though they will still make unnecessary products from time to time(Surface duo phone), their build quality has become better and better with time and technology.
 
Topher said:
Why is that?
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Because Valve have been a pioneer of 'you own nothing' and Steam itself is a form of DRM.

They've prevented me from playing games I've 'bought' from them in the past because I forgot to set Steam to offline mode. Something for which I haven't and never will forgive them for.
 
Tams said:
Because Valve have been a pioneer of 'you own nothing' and Steam itself is a form of DRM.

They've prevented me from playing games I've 'bought' from them in the past because I forgot to set Steam to offline mode. Something for which I haven't and never will forgive them for.
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What are you talking about? I have a Steam profile that has been around for almost 13 years (less than 2 weeks away from the 13 year mark) and is level 143. I have never once been unable to play one of my games due to something on Steam's end, except for the singular exception where my Steam account wasn't signed in, and at that exact moment Steam servers were having issues (which has only happened once as I virtually never sign out of my Steam account). Why would you need to set Steam to Offline mode in order to play your games?
 
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Hudo said:
For all the shit that Microsoft gets, I do think their hardware team can put out a pretty good handheld device.
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If nice hardware was everything, MS would have no problem. Sometimes it seems like they want it to be everything (until it's nothing)
 
IFireflyl said:
What are you talking about? I have a Steam profile that has been around for almost 13 years (less than 2 weeks away from the 13 year mark) and is level 143. I have never once been unable to play one of my games due to something on Steam's end, except for the singular exception where my Steam account wasn't signed in, and at that exact moment Steam servers were having issues (which has only happened once as I virtually never sign out of my Steam account). Why would you need to set Steam to Offline mode in order to play your games?
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I've never had a problem either across three accounts for my self and my sons over many years.
 
Pejo said:
It can't be overstated how much Valve is doing for Linux gaming. If it wasn't for them, not a single major player would give a shit about Linux. Having a company as big as Valve putting R&D and effort into compatibility layers and features is a godsend.

If/when Windows OS goes subscription based, I'm gonna jump ship for good. Linux is already in a better place for gaming than it was even 5 years ago, and lots of that is thanks to the increased interest caused by the Deck.

On topic, I agree, more options and features is always good.
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Yeah. Just installed Heroic Games Launcher on a crappy laptop, everything launches with one click- tried a few GOG GAMES no problem, it even selects the proper Proton or Wine version for you, and it downloads it. Saves upload in the cloud, like on PSN.
 
IFireflyl said:
What are you talking about? I have a Steam profile that has been around for almost 13 years (less than 2 weeks away from the 13 year mark) and is level 143. I have never once been unable to play one of my games due to something on Steam's end, except for the singular exception where my Steam account wasn't signed in, and at that exact moment Steam servers were having issues (which has only happened once as I virtually never sign out of my Steam account). Why would you need to set Steam to Offline mode in order to play your games?
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That you aren't aware that you own zero of the games you have on Steam says it all really.

It's also disappointing that you don't know about this requirement.

help.steampowered.com

Steam Support :: Offline Mode

help.steampowered.com help.steampowered.com

Make sure you actually know what you are on about before you go off at someone.
 
Tams said:
That you aren't aware that you own zero of the games you have on Steam says it all really.

It's also disappointing that you don't know about this requirement.

help.steampowered.com

Steam Support :: Offline Mode

help.steampowered.com help.steampowered.com

Make sure you actually know what you are on about before you go off at someone.
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If you consider my post "going off on someone", then I'm not entirely certain how to proceed with a discussion. Please re-read my post and let me know what section contained even a modicum of hostility.

I absolutely understand that Steam games, like all digital games, are licensed. How did you make the leap that I'm somehow ignorant to that?

You linking the Offline Mode didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. There's a section in there that says if you need to sign in then you have to go online to do that, and I addressed this in my original response to you.

What argument do you think you won with this post? Why are you acting like you're a victim? I wasn't being mean by any stretch of the imagination. I asked you how you were negatively impacted, and instead of telling me what occurred you got super defensive.

Tams said:
Because Valve have been a pioneer of 'you own nothing' and Steam itself is a form of DRM.

They've prevented me from playing games I've 'bought' from them in the past because I forgot to set Steam to offline mode. Something for which I haven't and never will forgive them for.
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That was your post. I will ask you again: how were you prevented from playing games you purchased from Steam because you "forgot to set Steam to offline mode"? I could understand if you had issues playing a game because you forgot to launch the game once before going to Offline Mode, but I have never heard someone say that they can't play games UNLESS they go into Offline Mode.

Last point: relax man. I'm not your enemy. Don't take this as confrontational. I legitimately don't understand what you're saying you went through. As a Steam user for over a decade, I'm genuinely curious as to how you've been negatively impacted while I've had smooth sailing 99.99999% of the time.
 
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GPUs are going to be expensive forever and Valves hardware surveys consistently show their average user has a Walmart laptop. The handhelds cost the same as those and give much better gaming performance.
 
Tams said:
Jokes on them. I don't buy anything on Steam anymore and haven't for years.
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So what do you buy? Useless physical media that requires you to download something to even get access to the single player portion? Or digital media on consoles that might get useless when the next generation of consoles doesn't support the games you bought?
 
I have pesonally spent a few hundred on steam since getting the 'Eck, a lot of games which are repeat purchases of games I already had on psn but wanted to experience in a new setup. Plus a few pc exclusives. So yea definitely a win-win for valve.
 
Gamezone said:
So what do you buy? Useless physical media that requires you to download something to even get access to the single player portion? Or digital media on consoles that might get useless when the next generation of consoles doesn't support the games you bought?
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Physical Switch games and from GOG on PC.
 
IDKFA said:
Just need Sony and Microsoft to enter the arena now.

Not sure about the Microsoft offering, but I'd bust a nut if the Sony handheld is real. A handheld where I can access and download games from my PS library is all I want.
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Or even better... SONY just releases on PC and I don't have to buy a walled garden handheld
 
Valve gets it, keeping it a healthy market for the future is better than just monopolizing it for the now. Take notes Sony and Microsoft.
 
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I can confirm that I purchase a lot of games on Steam since I got the SDOLED. Only Unicorn Overlord will be my last Switch game I guess.
 
Gamezone said:
GOG is good, but physical Switch games are becoming more useless as games doesn't fit the physical media.
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That's a complicated issue, but they do.

Anyway, the main point there is that I have physical proof of legal purchase.
 
I mean I guess. But other companies are getting super experimental with the handheld PC thing and are making their own interesting designs, especially AYANEO and GPD with their clamshell form factors which many people have taken a liking to. I know it takes a while to make these but I'd still like to see at least some designs/suggestions on what they're working on for the next Deck, I want to see where this idea goes. They've really had too much success to just throw it away and leave us with the second rates

If Valve were to make a version of those with their polish & design it could be really good.
 
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IFireflyl said:
you had issues playing a game because you forgot to launch the game once before going to Offline Mode
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This is exactly the problem. It is, to me, utterly unacceptable. It should never be required.

You're blinded by your adoration of Steam.
 
I doubt they make much profit on the Steam Deck, so why would they care? They only make money when people use their store, so as long as the handheld supports Steam then they are doing just fine. Having Steamdeck be popular does increase developer support for Linux though, and that is their long-term play.
 
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