Alienware manager: Windows 10 makes Steam Machines obsolete
According to Frank Azor, co-founder and manager of Alienware, Windows 10 has helped Microsoft achieve greater success among gamers than the Steam Machine. That would be thanks to support for DirectX 12 and services like Xbox Play Anywhere in Windows 10.
In an interview with PCGamer, Azor says that two years ago Microsoft made a number of decisions around Windows 8 that prevented gamers from being attracted to the operating system. As a result, the company would have run the risk of gamers leaving the platform and spilling over to other platforms, such as consoles or macOS.
Azor invested in Valve’s Steam Machine concept because Windows 8 wasn’t appealing enough for gamers. According to him, Windows 10 is more successful in that regard. “That’s how the partnership between Valve and Alienware around the concept of the Steam Machine came to be,” he says. “We said, we can’t lose Windows as a gaming platform. We had to take action ourselves because we couldn’t rely on Microsoft. So we did.”
The concept of the Steam Machine never really took off. In June, it was announced that half a million Steam Controllers had been sold so far. This number included the controllers that came with the Steam Machines. This showed that less than 500,000 copies of the computers were sold at that time. According to Azor, there are several reasons for the moderate success of the Steam Machines. Shipments of the controllers were behind schedule and Microsoft was able to achieve greater success among gamers with Windows 10, supporting DirectX 12 and services like Xbox Play Anywhere. Azor states that through the Steam Machines, Microsoft realized that the company was losing gamers, while they are a large market for Microsoft.
The Alienware Alpha machines, which are basically no more than Steam Machines running Windows 10, sell a lot better than the Steam Machines themselves, Azor says. Azor argues that users do want a fast computer for the living room, but that they still opt for Windows 10 because of the more extensive support for games and controllers compared to Steam OS, which is based on Linux.
When asked about his thoughts on virtual reality, Azor says it’s still in its infancy. “The stuff has only been delivered since earlier this year. PC gaming has taken 40 years to get to where it is today. I don’t think VR will take that long, but we’re only on day one.”