Ever since Valve announced Steam Machine, there has been much speculation about their venture into consoles. The devices will be powered by SteamOS, which means they will be something of a cross between a PC and a console, although you are of course free to install Windows on them.
For those who want to check out SteamOS, Steam Decks are already available, and with a little tinkering at home, it's possible to install it on other hardware (albeit with mixed results). But former Xbox and Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra isn't happy about this, as he thinks Valve is losing money by not offering SteamOS on more types of hardware. On X, he writes:
"Dear @valvesoftware, please just let 3rd parties use SteamOS and make the HW with many different configurations. SteamOS will take off and your Store revenue will only go up."
Ybarra also believes that the next Xbox should run SteamOS, although he considers this unlikely:
"This is what Xbox should do, btw. But they will likely be forced to push Windows with AI, co-pilot, teams, and more. They could do GREAT if they embraced SteamOS on HW."
It does not seem entirely far-fetched that Valve will eventually open up SteamOS, but it's still considered almost unthinkable that Microsoft would do so with the next Xbox (which is rumoured to be a hybrid between a console and a PC).