When it was announced that Valve would not be selling the Steam Machine at a loss, it raised questions about the potential impact on their sales. Larian Studios’ publishing director, Michael Douse, weighed in on the situation, emphasizing the missed opportunity for Valve to attract more users to its platform. He suggested that avoiding losses on hardware sales isn’t inherently wrong, but expressed concerns that Valve might be overlooking the broader benefits of having customers engaged with their storefront.

“I know subsidising hardware is unfashionable now but surely they’re losing far more than a ~200$ difference by not having people on the storefront, which is essentially a money-printing machine. That said, it isn’t stupid to not sell things at a loss, just peculiar in this case.”
“Sei que subsidiar o hardware não é da moda agora, mas eles certamente estão perdendo muito mais do que a diferença de ~200$ ao não ter pessoas na loja, que é essencialmente uma máquina de impressão de dinheiro. Dito isso, não é estúpido não vender as coisas com prejuízo, apenas peculiar neste caso.”

The Steam Machine could thus serve as a versatile PC that supports various operations, not limited to gaming. If priced attractively, it might encourage users to configure their machines with other operating systems, further diluting Valve’s control over the gaming experience.