Valve RDNA 4-based Steam Console Rumors Arise, Only To Get Shot Down

[GGforever]

Extas1s is a prominent name in the rumor arena, who has provided trustworthy information in the past. Joining hands with HandleDeck, the duo recently made an interesting claim of Valve secretly working on a Steam Console of sorts, or perhaps some sort of eGPU for the Steam Deck. To back up their claims, the duo cited the fact that Valve is putting quite a lot of effort into drivers for AMD's soon-to-be released Radeon RX 9070 GPUs, and since those are desktop-only parts, a stationary console that will allow Valve to lock horns with Sony and Microsoft is likely in the works.

However, it appears that the duo may have rushed to a conclusion instead of considering the facts on the table. GamingOnLinux, who was quick to respond to the claims made by HandleDeck and Extas1s, stated that Valve working on AMD drivers for future hardware is nothing out of the ordinary, adding that Valve invests in a "lot of different areas for Linux", and not just the areas that concern their own products, which is absolutely true. This time around, the speculations arose when a Valve developer commented that Mesa drivers support for RDNA 4 cards should be good enough.




Just recently, rumors regarding a successor to the Steam Deck 2 was also doing the rounds on the internet, which were quickly refuted by informed sources. Of course, this absolutely does not mean that Valve is not working on future hardware - they almost certainly are - just that a documentation update to open source graphics drivers should not be taken as an indication of unreleased hardware being under development. The rest, of course, remains to be seen.

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[Daven]

The whole Steam Machines, Steam OS and Steam Controller would have worked when originally launched in 2013 if Valve would have launched an exclusive bundle that I call 'Three' for the Steam OS. The 'Three' bundle would have included Half-life 3, Counter-strike 3, Day of Defeat 3, Left 4 Dead 3, Portal 3, DOTA 3 and Team Fortress 3. Such an exclusive would have propelled a Steam console into the stratosphere.

 

[Denver]

If it turns out to be based on the 9070XT, it would be especially interesting, as it would provide an unprecedented comparison between official AMD drivers on Windows and Valve's open-source drivers on Linux.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I think Steam has got a good thing going to with the Steam Deck. Keep building on that base and form-factor, maybe do a Switch-esq dock that allows for a higher clock rate on the parts and just keep on trucking.

No need for some completely separate product line in the form of a home console or something. Just give us a Steam OS and let folks custom build their home consoles.