Earlier this week Valve announced Steam Machines, custom gaming PCs running on SteamOS which is based on Linux. The Steam Machines will also support a new Family Sharing feature, something that was a part of the original Xbox One plan. Later on, Microsoft ditched the feature after the entire (well, almost) gaming community revolted against the Xbox One’s draconian DRM policies.
So does Valve pose a threat to Microsoft’s future plans? Phil Harrison, corporate VP of the Xbox division believes it is too early to comment on.
“To be honest, it’s too early to tell, I don’t have enough facts to properly evaluate it yet. I don’t know their approach, I don’t know enough about their business model, or their financials and so on,” he said in an interview with CVG.
However he applauds Valve for making smart moves in the industry and how, in a way, it validates Microsoft’s approach with the Xbox One.
“But, Valve is clearly a smart company. I admire what they do, I admire how they do it. I would add though, that their approach helps validate ours. The biggest screen in the house is the living room, the console which you have connected to that is also usually connected to the most sophisticated sound system. That’s the centre of gravity for games in the home,” he added.
Do you agree with Harrison’s notion? Furthermore do you think Microsoft will ever bring those initial features back on Xbox One? Sound off in the comments section below.