Valve hasn't given up on Steam Machines
Company admits sales are slow, but says 'store delisting' is nothing more than routine cleanup
Valve has restated its commitment to building on its strategy to roll out Steam Machines as an alternative to hefty and costly PC rigs - despite widespread reports that the section had disappeared from the Steam Store.
In an update to the Steam community, Valve employee Pierre-Loup addressed recent reports that claimed the company had removed Steam Machines from the marketplace after a link on the storefront's main navigation bar disappeared.
This was explained away as part of a "routine cleanup" of the store's navigation system. Low user traffic for this particular link saw Steam Machines removed from the main bar, but the section dedicated to the devices is still very much active.
Valve also stressed that, despite low sales for these machines, it still intends to increase its presence in the Linux market.
"While it's true Steam Machines aren't exactly flying off the shelves, our reasons for striving towards a competitive and open gaming platform haven't significantly changed," Pierre-Loup wrote. "We're still working hard on making Linux operating systems a great place for gaming and applications. We think it will ultimately result in a better experience for developers and customers alike, including those not on Steam."
He went on to write that Valve has "learned quite a bit" about the Linux ecosystem, which will directly inform improvements to the Linux-based SteamOS that Steam Machines run on.
Part of this will be investing more in the new Vulkan graphics API and ensuring strong support for the tech on Linux.
"We also have other Linx initiatives in the pipe that we're not quite ready to talk about yet; SteamOS will continue to be our medium to deliver these improvements to our customers, and we think they will ultimately benefit the Linux ecosystem at large," Pierre-Loup concluded.