After delays, Valve and partners near production on Steam Machines for living-room gamers

BELLEVUE, Wash. — I took a short trip to Valve’s headquarters this week to view the company’s latest prototypes for Steam Machines, the Valve-powered Steam OS gaming computers with a special controller for big-screen TV play. At its high-rise building in downtown Bellevue, company engineers showed me demos of near-final controllers and a variety of machines that are expected to ship in November.

As envisioned, the Steam Machines are living room gaming computers aimed at preserving the openness and innovation of the PC, and they represent a potential threat to Microsoft’s decades-long grip on the $25 billion Windows PC gaming market as well as the equally large console game market. This ambitious plan makes Valve one of the most interesting companies in the gaming industry, as it takes on roles as both a game maker and a technology provider.