New Steam Hardware for 2026

I know, it's all over your feeds, your inbox, probably in your ears, too. But there's really only one thing worth talking about today. And that's the hardware release announcement for the new Steam hardware.

I awoke this morning to this absolute mic drop of a video announcement. I cannot wait to see some actual, real-world reviews and benchmarking of the Steam Machine.

With the shenanigans Microsoft has been dick-punching it's player base with, this thing is a prime contender for that space underneath the TV, replacing the Series X. Because my Steam Library is vast.

I'm also not an “AAA”, “RELEASE DAY” player. Not even close. In fact, I still play OpenTTD far too often for my own good. Hell, the most played title on my Xbox is probably split between Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Brotato. If you've never played Brotato, just … don't. I'm ashamed at how many hours of my life that thing has taken.

Anyway, back to the point. If this thing can play most of the games I own on Steam. I really don't have a use for the Xbox any more. The only reason I had it was so I could just sit down and play when I had 30 minutes to 1 hour spare and needed something to just work without tweaking, and fiddling, and updates. Can't say those last two requirement has gone well in the last few months, either. Every time I sit down, it's disconnected from the network or has an update waiting. Despite having auto-updates enabled and every other single device in the house still being connected.

The quality is slipping, the price is increasing. I think Microsoft has got a serious problem on their hands here. Sony, I'm not so sure. That's one seriously loyal fan base. Might sting a little, though.