14 DAY TRIAL // Valve has finally talked about recent rumors, which said that the company was working on a proprietary console running its Steam digital distribution service, revealing that it’s currently focused on the Steam Big Picture Mode, not on building an actual hardware device.
Valve has made a name for itself by delivering great franchises like Half-Life, Counter-Strike, or Portal to millions of gamers from all over the world, but also through its Steam service, which allows digital content delivery on the PC and Mac platforms.
Last week, a far-fetched rumor appeared saying that Valve was working on a standalone home console based on a compact PC that was running Steam.
This was further reinforced by an image of a project of one of its employees, which showed a compact computer that was close in size to devices like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.
Talking with journalists at GDC, Valve’s Doug Lombardi took the time to deny such a rumor, saying that the company was currently working on Steam’s Big Picture Mode user interface.
"We're prepping the Steam Big Picture Mode UI and getting ready to ship that, so we're building boxes to test that on," Valve’s marketing director said, via Kotaku.
The Big Picture Mode allows Steam users to easily navigate the service when the actual computer, PC or Mac, is connected to a large screen, like the TV in a living room.
Valve’s previous patent for a controller with interchangeable parts was also dug up this week, as further proof that a console from the company was coming, so Lombardi also talked about that project.
"We're also doing a bunch of different experiments with biometric feedback and stuff like that, which we've talked about a fair amount,” the Valve director added. "All of that is stuff that we're working on, but it's a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware."
As you can see, while Valve may be working on plenty of things, an actual Steam console isn’t among them.