While a Steam Deck 2 is still years away, Valve may have something else up its sleeves: a new SteamOS streaming device. And this "Steam Box" looks to go head-to-head with the Nvidia's much-loved Shield TV device.
A Reddit post (spotted by XDA Developers) indicates Valve is testing a new device with similarities to Google ChromeOS hardware, with changes made in Steam Deck code showcasing testing for HDMI CEC. This already points to a streaming device, seeing as an HDMI output would connect to a TV. What's more, if it's running on SteamOS, then there's likely to be plenty of games on it.
The post also references the device will be based on a platform codenamed "AMD Lilac," which appears to generally run an AMD 8540U chipset, according to Geekbench. Compared to the Steam Deck OLED, which comes equipped with a custom AMD Zen 2, this new SteamOS streaming device would come packed with plenty of power.
As the post suggests, the similarities with ChromeOS could point to the SteamOS streaming device also supporting Android TV apps, making it a new device that can stream shows and play games via Steam.
Currently, this is all just speculation, as this chip may just be a prototype and not the actual chip used on this rumored device. Still, this could give the Nvidia Shield TV a run for its money, and seeing as it hasn't seen much competition seen its release in 2019, a new "Steam Box" could change the game.
'Steam Box' may not be the only device running SteamOS
Valve's SteamOS made waves on the Steam Deck, so much so that many have started running it on other gaming handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally X.
Thankfully, the company has confirmed it will support more Windows 11 gaming handhelds with the operating system, but we should also see more upcoming devices with a "Powered by SteamOS" badge.
While there's no word on when this "Steam Box" will be announced or whether it will come out of the woodwork at all, but this could be one such device that Valve will stick this badge on — and many more.
The Nvidia Shield TV has yet to see a product update since its launch in 2019, but it's still one of the best streaming devices you can grab for gaming. If Valve is hot on its heels with an all-new SteamOS streaming device, it may not hold the crown for much longer. What's more, with SteamOS eventually coming to more devices, we could see this being the go-to operating system for handheld gaming and streaming.
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