Valve says Steam Machines were ‘a good idea’ that helped make Steam Deck possible

Valve has not had great luck making hardware. The Steam Controller failed to revolutionize the controller scene despite its innovative design, the Steam Link worked well but was muscled out by a less-impressive app, and the ballyhooed Steam Machines basically faceplanted right out of the gate. The Index is an impressive unit, but hasn’t sparked a meaningful uptick in VR adoption since its release.

We said earlier this month that Steam Machines could be seen as a cautionary tale for early proponents of the Steam Deck, Valve’s upcoming handheld gaming device. But in an interview with IGN, Valve designers Greg Coomer, Lawrence Yang, and Scott Dalton took a different perspective, saying that the lessons learned from those earlier units were instrumental in making the Steam Deck possible.