Valve Dismisses Speculations About RDNA4-Powered Steam Console – Regularly Tests New Hardware Without Planning to Use It

After a recent buzz sparked by GamingOnLinux regarding a supposed Steam Console being in the works, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais took to BlueSky to clear the air, confirming those rumors were nothing more than a cloud of speculation. Griffais explained that Valve’s pre-release work on the Mesa Vulkan, tailored for AMD’s RDNA 4 architecture, follows the same path they have taken since AMD’s Vega. Although Valve is indeed testing new software for an upcoming GPU architecture, this doesn’t imply a sudden resurrection of the Steam Machine project.

So, what does this mean for the dream of a new Steam Console? For now, that dream remains just that. But it’s worth taking a closer look at Valve’s past ventures into the console realm and speculate about the potential resurrection of the Steam Machine, or perhaps even the debut of a Steam Deck 2.

As for Valve’s hardware roadmap, the backbone of any forthcoming Steam console was never going to hinge on the adoption of some pre-release GPU technology like AMD’s RDNA 4. Consoles—such as what we’ve seen with the Steam Deck—are typically anchored in custom hardware derived from existing architectures. By the time a console is ready for market, its tech is often a step or two behind the newest hardware. This is because these platforms require significant lead time for development.

The launch of the Steam Deck in 2022 with AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture—which debuted back in November 2020—serves as a prime example. There was roughly a year and a half gap between the Steam Deck’s launch and its original GPU architecture, and nearly two and a half years from the Zen 2 CPU foundation. The anticipated RDNA 4 architecture, designed for desktops, would require even more resources to be adapted into a feasible APU for handheld devices.

At this point, top-tier integrated graphics solutions revolve around RDNA 3 and RDNA 3.5 architectures from AMD, but boosting performance while running on battery power has been a challenge. Sure, you can get better results when plugged in, but for handhelds, the battery remains the boss. Only recently have products like the Ryzen AI HX 300 Series APUs featuring RDNA 3.5 iGPUs hit the market.

Another indication that Valve isn’t focusing on a new Steam Console at the moment is the announcement that the Steam Deck 2 is “at least two or three years away.” Valve seems to be waiting for substantial advancements in hardware before making any moves. While an RDNA 4 iGPU could potentially be part of a future iteration of Steam Deck, it’s clear we’re not going to see it anytime soon. Releasing three distinct SteamOS-powered devices in less than seven years would really be pushing it.

While RDNA 4 indeed looks intriguing based on the pieces we do have about it, there’s too much we remain clueless about—like its power consumption, performance metrics, and price. It’ll be a while before we see it transformed into something compact enough for handheld devices.

Looking towards the future, a few interesting leaks occurred late last year, showcasing new Valve ventures: a revamped Steam Controller inspired by the Deck’s design and next-gen VR controllers. This doesn’t definitively signal the return of the Steam Machine or the Steam Link, but instead, suggests a focus on seamless integration between Steam Deck’s handheld and docked gameplay, leveraging Steam Input’s features like touch-sensitive gyro support.

So, is a new Steam Console out of the question? Not entirely. When Steam OS 3 is more widely released, we might see more manufacturers interested in using it for mini PCs, laptops, and handhelds. A larger form factor could also make technologies like real-time ray tracing more accessible. Currently, on the existing Steam Deck, ray tracing mainly works when aiming for 30 FPS in mostly rasterized games, while full ray tracing or path-traced games remain off the table due to older hardware and limited power capacities.

For Valve to deliver the next big leap in handheld performance, they need to go beyond just better RT capabilities with RDNA 4. An efficient GPU architecture capable of delivering outstanding RT results at 25W TDP, or even 15W TDP, is essential. Full discrete RDNA 4 mobile GPUs, projected to operate between 80-175W TDP, indicate AMD still needs more time to reach this benchmark.

However, there are avenues to accomplish these goals. RDNA 4 is built on TSMC’s N4 process, which has been in use for over two years. The Steam Deck’s Van Gogh APU is on the older N7 node. Shifting to a more efficient node like N5 or N4 would help considerably. In another couple of years, N3 and possibly N2 nodes will be more accessible, and these efficiency-tuned smaller nodes might be the solution for future handhelds—provided that both the total die size and cost can be managed.

Finally, do we even need a new Steam Console? By docking the Steam Deck, it’s already far more powerful than a Nintendo Switch as a home console. Since Nintendo seems to have moved away from traditional home consoles, Valve might see greater value in continuing with a hybrid-handheld strategy for its hardware, steering clear of directly competing with the established console giants and gaming PCs.