14 DAY TRIAL // The Xi3 Corporation, the company behind the recently revealed Piston mini PC, has revealed more details about its deals with Valve and how the Piston is actually an even better version of the Steam Box that's currently being developed by the games studio.
Rumors about a Valve Steam Box have floated around the web for quite some time and recently the company actually confirmed that it's working on such a project, while helping others, like the Xi3 Corporation, with their own variations.
After the reveal of Piston last week, Valve issued a statement saying that it has no current relation to Xi3 and that the Piston shouldn't be referred to as a Steam Box.
Now, Xi3 founder, president and CEO, Jason Sullivan, has released a statement about the company's relationship with Valve and how the studio had asked it to develop the Piston mini PC.
"We reaffirm the fact that we received an investment from Valve Corporation (as we previously disclosed during the 2013 International CES trade show), and we did so with Valve's written permission," Sullivan wrote in a statement.
"Second, we were asked to build a product specifically for Valve, and both companies showcased this product—the Piston Console—in their respective booths at CES 2013."
"Then, during a meeting with Valve at CES, Gabe Newell personally asked me that we not disclose additional information about our relationship with Valve. We have honored that request and will continue to do so. That said, there are other items we need to cover."
Sullivan went on to clear things up surrounding Piston and the future Steam Box, emphasizing that, due to the more open nature, the Piston is actually even better than what Valve will eventually release.
"It's also important to note that the Piston Console will allow gamers to access Steam regardless of what our relationship is or isn't with Valve. Additionally, PIston will also support a raft of other Internet-based gaming and entertainment platforms, which is more than what Valve apparently has planned for its official Steam Box.
"In this way, the Piston Console could be perceived as something more than just a Steam Box, which makes sense because at its core the Piston Console is a Modular Computer that can run any operating system or application designed to run on an x86-based 64-bit computer."
As of yet, Valve hasn't released any other statements about its relationship with Xi3.