Do you want a future where PlayStation is the only home console? Because that’s how you get a future where PlayStation is the only home console.
And with Sony holding a monopoly (not counting Nintendo because they’ve pretty much been doing their own thing since the Wii), they’re gonna jack up prices and force exclusivity deals to further consolidate their monopoly, as any company with such a dominant market position would.
Valve has entered the chat and has summoned Proton (Linux compatibility layer) FEX (ARM architecture compatibility layer), and a Steam Machine. A future with these 4 could look a lot different than what we have now, though it would certainly take some time.
I wouldn’t really count Valve as a competitor because
Their pivot towards Linux came from a perceived threat that Microsoft could force users into using their app store exclusively, and effectively shutter Steam out of the market entirely. This is something Microsoft have already done with Windows 10 S.
The OG Steam Machines were a massive flop for various reasons, and the new one Valve is creating in-house is set to be priced more equivalently to a gaming PC than a home console. It’ll give a nice accessible path towards PC gaming but because they’re not selling it at a loss and recouping that money from software sales…
PC gaming has always been treated as its own separate thing since home computers became a thing.
While the Steam Deck has been incredibly successful, handheld gaming is also its own separate thing, and their main competitors in that regard are Nintendo, Asus, Lenovo and all the budget Chinese Android handhelds designed with emulation in mind.
Exclusivity is still a shitty thing. How does it make the service better for consumers?
Do you want a future where PlayStation is the only home console? Because that’s how you get a future where PlayStation is the only home console.
And with Sony holding a monopoly (not counting Nintendo because they’ve pretty much been doing their own thing since the Wii), they’re gonna jack up prices and force exclusivity deals to further consolidate their monopoly, as any company with such a dominant market position would.
Valve has entered the chat and has summoned Proton (Linux compatibility layer) FEX (ARM architecture compatibility layer), and a Steam Machine. A future with these 4 could look a lot different than what we have now, though it would certainly take some time.
I wouldn’t really count Valve as a competitor because
Their pivot towards Linux came from a perceived threat that Microsoft could force users into using their app store exclusively, and effectively shutter Steam out of the market entirely. This is something Microsoft have already done with Windows 10 S.
The OG Steam Machines were a massive flop for various reasons, and the new one Valve is creating in-house is set to be priced more equivalently to a gaming PC than a home console. It’ll give a nice accessible path towards PC gaming but because they’re not selling it at a loss and recouping that money from software sales…
PC gaming has always been treated as its own separate thing since home computers became a thing.
While the Steam Deck has been incredibly successful, handheld gaming is also its own separate thing, and their main competitors in that regard are Nintendo, Asus, Lenovo and all the budget Chinese Android handhelds designed with emulation in mind.