Will major game companies latch on to Steam OS and Steam Box?

[Eric the Orange]

Just as the title says. At the moment I think it'll be embraced by the Indies but Big publishers want wide appeal. And while I can see many hardcore gamers at least looking into Steam OS. I don't see many casual computer gamers looking into anything ran on Linux. And casual gamers make up a much larger slice of the marketing pie than hardcore gamers (look at what the Wiis primary success was based on.). So unless Steam OS and Steam Box gain traction with the general populace then I don't see major publishers giving it any more than a token effort.


I'd like to point out in this case "hardcore gamer" refers to the kind of people who frequent gaming sites and follow the news and whatnot and spend a lot of there free time playing games. Whereas "casual gamers" are the kind of people who only occasionally buy games in franchises that catch there interest and probably get there gaming news from non-gaming related sources and don't spend a large amount of there free time playing games.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

SteamOS is Valve's solution to its problem that Microsoft is adding its App Store by default on every Windows copy from Windows 8 and on.
Microsoft's App Store is a competitive store to Steam,and by having a competitive store hard coded on Windows 8 so its in the face of costumers all the time,it is bad for business for Valve.
Thus Valve made its own OS so their own store is in the face of the costumer all the time.
...

Does that currently interests me,a PC gamer ? Not so much.
Because I stick with Windows 7,and there are games that are not sold on Steam or compatible with Steam OS that I want to play.
Perhaps if Valve somehow forced every other publisher and developer to publish their games on Steam and port them to Linux,SteamOS could be interesting.
But I don't want to get locked from playing games I currently can play.

 

[Esotera]

They're going to have to if they want to keep a share of the PC market, which microsoft is quite happily killing with windows 8. Steam OS probably hasn't cost Valve that much and the potential benefits are huge so I can see why they've done it. And they have a lot of traction with developers so can push for more games to be developed or ported to Linux, which would be very nice. I doubt I would use Steam OS outright though as you can't currently dualboot.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it's actually the "casuals" that will buy SteamBox because PC gaming still requires a lot of knowledge and effort, it's cool for people who have the knowledge but very scary for those who don't.
So the "hardcore" guys already have their systems set up where as "casual scum" just want to be pointed to a machine that will instantly work without fail, that is where SteamBox comes in (specifically for parents / grandparents who want to buy a PC for their young ones).

And obviously it will not gain major support until it sells plenty of units, just as right now most of the market plain and simply ignores Nintendo because there isn't enough of a crowd there and the same thing might happen to SteamOS.

It would also be very wise for Valve to integrate and help out with Wine so at least less demanding Windows games can be run on their system, that would extend their library pretty dramatically.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I can't really see Valve grabbing complete attention from all publishers (major and small) and the entire casual crowd with just the Steam Box, it just doesn't seem like it'l work that well (maybe a little more than the Wii U).

And honestly I'm not really interested in the Steam OS or Box since I already have my own PC and I'm happy and content with Windows 7, while i dislike windows 8 I do not see either Valve or 8 enticing me to jump to either.

Even if Valve got some footing with their Box and OS, that doesn't somehow mean Valve have to automatically acquire and grab everyone, competition is good but wanting the Steam box to grab everyone is just like wanting a monopoly but with Steam's DRM instead.

 

[Moderated]

snip

There are a shitton of big name companies that make/port pc games. I don't follow what you're trying to say.
Edit: I could have sworn the title only said steam before.
I don't see the point of Steam OS, and don't really get the point of the steam box. PC gamers are going to game on PC, console gamers will either stay console gamers or start playing on PC.

 

[caselj01]

I think it will take some convincing, but I think major companies could end up jumping on the Steam OS bandwagon. As people have said, companies go where the money is, and the money is where the consumers are. The big turning point is going to come in a few years time, when people (such as myself) are looking at getting a new gaming PC and deciding whether to get a Windows OS or a Steam OS. Windows might seem like the obvious choice but I hate Windows 8, I can't keep using Windows 7 forever, and I basically only use my gaming PC for steam games anyway. If some/most of those steam games work on Steam OS then it might be very tempting to go for Steam OS over Windows OS. If Valve can convince enough users to make the switch to Steam OS then it may very well become the default OS for big budget multi-platform games.

As for the argument that

... casual gamers make up a much larger slice of the marketing pie than hardcore gamers (look at what the Wiis primary success was based on.). So unless Steam OS and Steam Box gain traction with the general populace then I don't see major publishers giving it any more than a token effort.

Yes the Wii was very popular among casual gamers, but the Wii and Wii U have both suffered from a distinct lack of third party games because big companies know that casual gamers don't buy enough games to make developing for those systems worth it. So I think to get third party support, which Valve definitely needs, Steam OS actually needs to appeal to the hardcore crowd much more than the casual.

Then again, I think we will all be cloud gaming in 5 years time anyway so thats a whole other issue...

 

[Auberon]

I see the less "antagonistic" companies at least looking at Steam OS port. EA has its own Origin, which can possibly either increase their revenue or reduce it, depending on exclusives such as inevitable Dragon Age games.

 

[Something Amyss]

And here we go with the fucking exclusives again. I was thinking that "pc gamers" were better people and were smarter than that.

Wait, what? Are you mocking the inane notion, or are you serious?

Anyway, hasn't Microsoft already gone that route?

It's basically a console-PC hybrid, so it aims at both casuals that want it simple and core gamers that want serious horse power. When Valve manages it to create decent generic drivers, it'd be pretty stupid not to.

I think it'll have less to do with who it's aimed at and more to do with whether or not people actually buy it. While it looks like you think this has something for everyone, I think it will attract a very specific subset of people and please almost no-one else.

The OS I can see having broader support, but the "hybrid" seems like something that will bring console prices to PC gamers and PC "complexity" to console gamers. It just seems like a bad idea, unless they have radically simplified the hardware and offer truly low prices. Also, it depends on whether those same console users dig the controller is a big deal.

Even the OS I think is contingent on how many people are buying games for it. As a free download, it might have a billion downloads at almost no cost, but if there isn't a userbase for games, it doesn't matter. And it's still Linux-based, which could be a turnoff for a huge number of gamers (complexity perception again). But as people have already pointed out, a good number of people are dissatisfied with Windows 8. And you know what? So am I, so I'm likely to give SteamOS a shot when I probably wouldn't care otherwise. I'm happy with Windows 7 for most purposes, and would gladly just not upgrade until there was another product I liked on the market, but if I can get a better gaming experience off a gaming OS built by a company that deals in games? I kind of hope this idea can gain some steam, if you'll pardon the very obvious pun.

 

[Eric the Orange]

And here we go with the fucking exclusives again. I was thinking that "pc gamers" were better people and were smarter than that.

what are you talking about. I didn't say anything about exclusives. I was more talking about releasing games on Steam OS. reason being most companies only release games on PC these days and I was wondering if they would try and get there games on a Linux based system.

 

[Eric the Orange]

snip

There are a shitton of big name companies that make/port pc games. I don't follow what you're trying to say.
Edit: I could have sworn the title only said steam before.
I don't see the point of Steam OS, and don't really get the point of the steam box. PC gamers are going to game on PC, console gamers will either stay console gamers or start playing on PC.

Well the point as I understand it is that Valve doesn't like the direction that Microsoft is taking Windows, with it being more restrictive and all.

My question is will you average computer gamer Use Steam OS to play computer games. And will Major Publishers bother to port there games to a Linux based system.

 

[Eric the Orange]

It's basically a console-PC hybrid, so it aims at both casuals that want it simple and core gamers that want serious horse power. When Valve manages it to create decent generic drivers, it'd be pretty stupid not to.

I guess my question is will major Publishers support a Linux based system. And will average people use a Linux based system.

I'm a bit of a computer guy so I've messed about with Linux. And one thing I know about it is it is not as "user friendly" as the other two. And there is often a lot of debugging necessary on the user end to get some thing to work. And I don't know if your average computer gamer is willing to put up with that.

 

[Moderated]

My question is will you average computer gamer Use Steam OS to play computer games. And will Major Publishers bother to port there games to a Linux based system.

You aren't supposed to. It's the OS for the steambox. They only released it so people could see how it works. No one is going to install it on their PC. It only plays games. It does nothing else.

 

[Laughing Man]

Well it's actually the "casuals" that will buy SteamBox because PC gaming still requires a lot of knowledge and effort, it's cool for people who have the knowledge but very scary for those who don't.

I would suggest you take a look at some of the post over at Guru3D of people who have a serious amount of knowledge about PCs and specifically the amount of trouble they are having getting Steam OS to install and run on their systems. This is anything but an OS for the casual gamer. Even the dumbest non computer user can stick a DVD in a drive, reboot their PC and an hour later they will have a Windows 8 PC up and running and in most cases it will have found and self installed the drivers needed to play the majority of games.

As for the Steam OS and Steam box it fails from the word go, having a feature that requires you to have another PC running your rivals OS in order to be able to play your full gaming library, the concept is so absurd that putting it in writing just seems silly. Buy two PCs to play all your games (A Stream box streaming a Windows based game) or buy one PC (a Windows based PC) and run all your games, you see just how stupid that concept is.

If Valve had dropped the streaming feature truly stuck to the guns of overturning the Windows power base and then backed it up with some big name games. Then yeah just about, but as it is the Steambox and Steam OS just looks like a massive corporate league troll at Microsoft.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I'm waiting for EA to come up with their own OS so that people have to choose between using Steam or wanting to play Battlefield.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I'm happy with Windows 7 for most purposes, and would gladly just not upgrade until there was another product I liked on the market...

This is an interesting phenomenon in the PC world. Anyone remember how long people clung to XP after Windows 7 came out (I'm ignoring Vista for reasons)? And when games stopped supporting XP remember how many people screamed about having to upgrade to a new OS?
Maybe you don't, but I do. I also remember in the business world how long people clung to XP (and older os'es/gui's) and in fact people STILL use extremely out of date programs and OS'es.

Now not saying that SteamOS will be the standard going forward, hell Microsoft might reverse their App Store position if they realize nobody wants it and just make a Win7 version of 8 (8 being the equivalent of Vista in my analogy). And a lot of folk don't care for linux derivatives, myself included. I'd only use it if everything I currently own would work on the SteamOS, otherwise they can go jump off a bridge. I do own games from other sources, both disc based and digital based, and prefer the overall compatibility inherent in Windows 7.
Like the post quoted above, I want to see a real reason to switch OS'es, not just because its got the Steam label on it. For all the faults of Microsoft's OSes, I've stuck with them for over 20 years. And yes I know how to operate Linux and Unix based OSes, I dislike them immensely for many reasons. I don't know what SteamOS has yet, but I don't think it will replace Windows for me or many other folk.
Just sayin'.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I'm waiting for EA to come up with their own OS so that people have to choose between using Steam or wanting to play Battlefield.

if that were to happen along with ubisoft doing the same, the PC community would start throwing the word "hostage" a lot more if it were not on their OS of choice, just like with consoles they don't own or use but can't be bothered to get one or another OS to use.

 

[mindfaQ]

Only time will tell. I would have loved to switch to Linux completely when installing the OS for my new system, but can't switch completely when creative stuff like Photoshop, where performance matters, doesn't have a Linux port.