Valve’s own Steam Box will be based on Linux; company also looking into creating its own low-latency controller with biometric feedback.

Valve CEO Gabe Newell has shed some light on Valve’s own plans towards the much-anticipated Steam Box, confirming that the beloved publisher intends to make its own device, but that third-party vendors will also be invited to create their own Steam-capable hardware.

In an interview with The Verge, Newell confirmed Valve’s intentions to use Linux on its own machine but that users would be freely able to install a different OS, such as Microsoft’s Windows, if they wish. “We’ll come out with our own and we’ll sell it to consumers by ourselves. That’ll be a Linux box,” Newell said. “If you want to install Windows you can. We’re not going to make it hard. This is not some locked box by any stretch of the imagination.”

Newell also spoke of Valve’s plans to create low-latency controllers with biometric input, and that Valve’s eventual device–which has the current codename of “Bigfoot” inside Valve–will function as a home server that can broadcast to multiple displays.

“The Steam Box will also be a server,” said Newell. “Any PC can serve multiple monitors, so over time, the next-generation (post-Kepler) you can have one GPU that’s serving up eight simultaneous game calls. So you could have one PC and eight televisions and eight controllers and everybody getting great performance out of it. We’re used to having one monitor, or two monitors – now we’re saying let’s expand that a little bit.”

Following on from hardware manufacturer Xi3′s announcement of its own Steam-friendly hardware, Newell spoke of how Valve has its own three-tier approach to how it sees itself and other hardware companies integrating various aspects of the Steam platform. According to Newell, Valve sees the types of hardware as “‘Good’, ‘Better,’ or ‘Best’.”

“So, Good are like these very low-cost streaming solutions that you’re going to see that are using Miracast or [Nvidia's] Grid. I think we’re talking about in-home solutions where you’ve got low latency. ‘Better’ is to have a dedicated CPU and GPU and that’s the one that’s going to be controlled. Not because our goal is to control it; it’s been surprisingly difficult when we say to people ‘don’t put an optical media drive in there’ and they put an optical media drive in there and you’re like ‘that makes it hotter, that makes it more expensive, and it makes the box bigger.’ Go ahead. You can always sell the Best box, and those are just whatever those guys want to manufacture.”

And Valve’s position on all this, according to Newell? “Let’s build a thing that’s quiet and focuses on high performance and quiet and appropriate form factors.”

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Specifics on tiny PC are kept quiet, but Valve invests an undisclosed amount into PC manufacturer.

PC manufacturer Xi3 has announced a modular, grapefruit-sized computer designed around Steam’s TV-focused Big Picture mode, and Valve itself has announced an undisclosed amount of investment in the company.

While the oft-rumoured Steam Box was not shown directly, the Utah-based Xi3 showed off a prototype model of its tiny modular chassis, dubbed Piston, at CES Las Vegas. However, the company remained tight-lipped when it came to specs, price, and dates.

Speaking to Polygon, Xi3 chief marketing officer David Politis mentioned that the diminutive device would be modular, with the option to upgrade components like the CPU and RAM. The device also allows for up to a terabyte of storage.

While the exact differences between the Steam device and Xi3′s current X7A and X5A prototypes have yet to be detailed, the demonstration unit of the Piston showed four USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and eSATA ports, an ethernet port, 3.5mm audio and S/PDIF, two Mini DisplayPorts, and an HDMI/DisplayPort.

Xi3 also confirmed that the upcoming box is based on its bigger and more powerful prototype, the X7A, which will retail for $999. The entry-level device, the X5A, retails for $499 and runs on Linux–the open-source OS Valve engineer Ben Krasnow recently said the Steam box would utilise.

“This new development stage product will allow users to take full-advantage of their large high-definition TV displays for an amazing computer game experience,” said Xi3 CEO Jason A. Sullivan. “As a result, this new system could provide access to thousands of gaming titles through an integrated system that exceeds the capabilities of leading game consoles, but can fit in the palm of your hand.“

Valve’s Jeri Ellsworth has previously said she would like to launch an external beta test of proprietary Valve hardware sometime in 2013.

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Valve engineer teases more hardware surprises for 2013.

Valve’s custom set-top Steam Box will use Linux as its operating system, according to a Valve employee. Speaking at the recent Exceptionally Hard & Soft Meeting 2012 conference in Berlin, Valve engineer Ben Krasnow stated that the company’s long-awaited Steam Box will run on Linux.

Krasnow’s statements were reported by German tech blog Golem.de, with suggestions that the oft-rumoured Steam Box is not the only hardware project Valve is working on for 2013.

Valve has been actively working on developing Steam for Linux for the last few months, with the public client now supporting 41 games, including Team Fortress 2.

Valve director Gabe Newell has criticised Microsoft’s latest version of its operating system, Windows 8, in the past, notably dubbing it a “catastrophe” in June 2012.

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…sort of

Valve’s Gabe Newell has confirmed that the company is entering the the hardware market, spilling the news to Kotaku after this year’s VGA Awards. After the success of Valve’s “Big Picture” feature for their digital distribution service Steam, Newell stated that their next step was to sell consumer-friendly PCs that could be set up in the living room. 

“I think in general that most customers and most developers are gonna find that [the PC is] a better environment for them,” said Newell. “Because they won’t have to split the world into thinking about ‘why are my friends in the living room, why are my video sources in the living room different from everyone else?’ So in a sense we hopefully are gonna unify those environments.”

However, Newell stated that their PCs won’t be as open as other home computer platforms. 

“Well certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment. If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. . . the nice thing about a PC is a lot of different people can try out different solutions, and customers can find the ones that work best for them.”

Newell also confirmed that Valve was working on their next generation of game engines, which will not only run on their “Steam Box” (my words, not Newell’s) but on next-generation consoles as well. 

No specifics on when Valve’s home hardware will release, but with Sony’s and Microsoft’s next consoles rumored for next year, the recent release of the Wii U, and the Ouya just on the horizon, the next generation of gaming is looking to hold a lot of options for home console players. 

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Valve confirms it will not make any new product announcements at this summer’s Los Angeles tradeshow.

Valve will not announce Half-Life 3, any sequel to an existing franchise, or hardware at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the company told GameSpot today.

Valve has nothing new to share at E3.

“There are no new Valve product announcements planned for this year’s E3,” a Valve company spokesperson said.

This follows a Valvetime report from last week (via CVG) that indicated the firm would not make any announcements at E3 2012.

Valve cofounder Gabe Newell recently addressed the wait for Half-Life 3, saying Valve has gone through numerous “twists and turns” to bring the long-awaited game to market, and that remaining silent on the project is actually in the best interest of fans.

Prior to that, rumor had spread that Newell and Apple CEO Tim Cook met at Valve’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. Newell quickly shot down this speculation, saying he would enjoy discussing ideas with Cook, but no such meeting occurred.

Valve is also rumored to be at work on a gaming system of its own, described as the “Steam Box.” Speculation about this endeavor was further sparked last month, when several job listings at Valve were posted, calling for people to “invent whole new gaming experiences” and “research compelling new hardware technologies.”

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