Just because something gets removed from a company’s website doesn’t entirely mean that its support has come to an end. Sometimes, there’s a very simple explanation – depending on when it’s delivered, of course.
Valve had recently taken links off of its page regarding its Steam Machines units, leaving hundreds of users wondering if it was going to be discontinuing them in favor of good ol’ fashioned PC’s and laptops. But that apparently isn’t the case, as the links were removed due to maintenance. At least, that’s what a rep recently noted.
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In this post over on the Steam Community page, Pierre-Loup Griffais, who serves as a coder for Valve, explained that the removal of the links was mainly due to a “routine cleanup of the Steam Store navigation,” and nothing more.
He noted that there weren’t too many clicks for the links when they were up. “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.” In other words, it sounds like they’re not giving up on the machines. At least, not yet.
And the company has also begun exploring its options for supporting Linux, in the hopes of bringing in more users that are looking for a more approachable operating system. “We’ve taken a lot of feedback and have been heads-down on addressing the shortcomings we observed,” he noted. “We think an important part of that effort is our ongoing investment in making Vulkan a competitive and well-supported graphics API, as well as making sure it has first-class support on Linux platforms.
“We’re continuing to invest significant resources in supporting the Vulkan ecosystem, tooling and driver efforts.”
That’s not to say the company won’t look at the performance of the Steam Machines in the months ahead and make a decision, as it could likely do away with them considering their low sales count – or maybe make a more affordable model that might use the Linux system down the line.
We’ll see what the company has lined up in the months ahead, but do some shopping around before you rush out and buy a Steam Machine. A better option just might be available for you.
