Valve recently released the Steam Machine - a SteamOS device in a desktop/console form factor. It's fairly pricey (probably mainly due to global supply chain issues), and there's currently a waitlist to order one. However we got our hands on one and gave it a spin with Construct!
The Steam Machine on our test benchIt's a smart looking cube with a small form factor. We also got a Steam Controller with it.
The Steam ControllerWe've tried it out with a few Construct test projects. Here it is running the Cave Bridge example.
Running the Cave Bridge example on the Steam MachineWe're glad to report everything is working well! It's not surprising, as it's essentially the Steam Deck in a desktop/console form factor, and we had existing support for the Steam Deck. Just like with the Steam Deck it can run Linux CEF exports natively (no emulation or compatibility layers), using our official Steamworks plugin for Steam integration, and the built-in Gamepad plugin to receive gamepad input. The Steam Controller works well with Construct's existing gamepad support, using the now industry-standard Xbox controller layout and detecting inputs accordingly. By default the left touchpad maps to the D-pad, and the right touchpad maps to the right analog stick. Valve claim the Steam Machine has "over six times the horsepower of Steam Deck", so if your project ran OK on the Steam Deck, it should run great on the Steam Machine.
As you might expect, the process for testing a Construct project on a Steam Machine is very similar to the Steam Deck - they are both SteamOS devices that work similarly, the main difference is just the hardware form factor. You can learn more about exporting your project for Steam hardware like the Steam Machine in our guide Exporting to Linux and Steam hardware (see also Valve's guide on How to load and run games on Steam Deck and Steam Machine). Don't forget to grab the Steamworks plugin for Steam integration. If you haven't checked the Steamworks plugin for a while, note that recent added features include support for leaderboards, stats, achievement info, and detecting different Steam hardware like the Steam Deck and Steam Machine.
Conclusion
The Steam Machine is a nice addition to Valve's hardware line-up, with a traditional console-style form factor and more powerful hardware, but still working very similarly to the portable Steam Deck. Construct's existing Steam Deck support also covers the Steam Machine, giving you a wider potential audience for your Steam games and also extending Construct's publishing options for console-style devices. Valve's hardware is also very indie-friendly - there are no onerous approval programmes or NDAs to sign nor strict technical requirements. It's pretty much open for anyone to try out and publish! The only downsides are the price and waitlist for the Steam Machine which will likely limit its reach for the time being, but in the long term it could end up being a significant platform. While we normally recommend testing directly on target hardware, if you can't get hold of a Steam Machine for the time being, the compatibility is so consistent that you can probably test just on a Steam Deck and be reasonably confident it will work at least as well on the more powerful Steam Machine. If you want to give it a go but don't have a test project to try out, try one of Construct's built-in examples like the Cave Bridge example we used!