Valve Corporation may be looking to have third party gaming devices ship with its SteamOS pre-installed, based on a new rumor.
The SteamDB tracking tool has found new Valve branding guidelines, including one for “Powered by SteamOS”. According to the logo and brand guidelines, the “Powered by SteamOS” logo indicates that a hardware device will run the SteamOS and boot into SteamOS upon powering on the device. Valve has stated that its partners and manufacturers will ship hardware with a Steam image in the form provided by and/or developed in close collaboration with Valve. As per the company, physical alterations to the logo are prohibited, and it also cannot be combined with any other branding elements.
The “Powered by SteamOS” logo and brand guidelines indicate that Valve is looking to have third party gaming devices ship with its SteamOS pre-installed. If this is indeed the case, the Steam Deck will no longer be the only portable PC to come with Valve’s operating system installed, offering more options and convenience to Steam users looking for a gaming handheld.
Furthermore, this may also lead to the revival of Steam Machines, which would benefit from having SteamOS pre-installed. The console form factor gaming PCs were designed for the living room space, and a dedicated OS that runs Steam software out-of-the-box would play a vital role in its potential success.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen what the “Powered by SteamOS” logo and branding will ultimately be used for by third party partners and manufacturers. For now, all we can do is speculate.
Recently, the creator of SteamDB took to Blue Sky to share concept designs for Steam Controller 2 and a new Steam VR controller. According to him, the new Steam controller is internally referred to as “ibex” at Valve, and the new Steam VR controller is referred to as “roy”. There are various versions of the roy controllers.
