As many expected, Valve had a big presence during this year’s GDC event. Not only did the dev formally unveil its ambitious virtual reality headset in partnership with mobile company HTC, but Valve also confirmed that the much-anticipated Steam Machine and its pairing controller will launch in November.
The living room-friendly PC systems will come in a variety of shapes and sizes (quite literally) as the company has struck a deal with manufacturers such as Alienware and Falcon Northwest to bring the novel device to market. According to a report by Kotaku, the base entry Steam Machine will be priced between $350 and $400, positioning it as a direct rival to PS4 and Xbox One, though Valve notes that “Steam Machines will start at the same price point as game consoles, with higher performance.” Shot fired.
From there, Valve will roll out more high-spec systems to cater for the hardcore PC audience. In tandem with the Steam Machine’s November launch, it’s understood the company is planning to introduce a device known as the Steam Link. Essentially, this hard drive-sized component will allow players to stream their games to any PC on a home network, all at 1080p/60HZ, according to Valve.
And finally, the developer confirmed that its in-house Source 2 engine, “the successor to the Source engine used in Valve’s games since the launch of Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life,” is now free to download for budding devs.Â
