Phil Spencer Welcomes Steam Machine Announcement in Congratulatory Message to Valve, With Next-Gen Xbox Waiting in the Wings

Microsoft gaming brag Phil Spencer has welcomed Valve’s next-gen Steam instrumentality successful a congratulatory connection to Valve.

Yesterday, Valve unveiled its next-gen hardware plans by announcing a caller Steam Machine, a caller Steam Controller, and its Steam Frame virtual world headset.

The Steam Machine is simply a gaming-focused PC designed to beryllium much accessible than a modular desktop PC, with a sleek, cube-like plan and SteamOS on-board. It’s a wide play for the PC successful the surviving country space, and comes up of Microsoft’s ain reported next-gen console ambitions.

“Gaming moves guardant erstwhile players and developers person much ways to play and create, particularly crossed unfastened platforms,” Spencer tweeted. “Expanding entree crossed PC, console, and handheld devices reflects a aboriginal built connected choice, halfway values that person guided Xbox's imaginativeness from the start. As 1 of the largest publishers connected Steam, we invited caller options for players to entree games everywhere. Congrats connected today's announce.”

A caller study claimed the adjacent Xbox is simply a console / PC hybrid that volition play PlayStation games released connected PC via Steam. That means the likes of Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, Insomniac’s Spider-Man, and Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima and beauteous overmuch each different PC games volition each beryllium playable connected the next-gen Xbox successful an manufacture first.

Windows Central reported that portion users of the next-gen Xbox tin stay wrong the Xbox ecosystem if they want, they tin exit to Windows, wherever the console acts similar a accepted Windows PC. That means having entree to PlayStation games connected Steam, and rodent and keyboard games from Blizzard's launcher, Battle.net (World of Warcraft), and Riot's launcher (League of Legends).

Following that report, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella dropped yet different hint that the next-gen Xbox is fundamentally a PC. In an interrogation with TBPN, Microsoft brag Satya Nadella responded to questions astir the improvement of the company’s gaming business, and successful doing truthful dropped a wide hint astatine wherever the institution is going.

“Remember, the biggest gaming concern is the Windows business,” Nadella began. “To us, gaming connected Windows… and of course, Steam has built a monolithic marketplace connected apical of it, and they’ve done a precise palmy job. Now, we’re the largest steadfast aft the Activision [deal]. Therefore we privation to beryllium a fantastic publisher. Similar attack to what we did with Office. We privation to beryllium everywhere, successful each platform. So we privation to marque sure, whether it’s consoles, whether it’s the PC, whether it’s mobile, whether it’s unreality gaming, oregon the TV, we conscionable privation to marque definite the games are being enjoyed by gamers everywhere.

“Second, we besides wanted to bash innovative enactment successful the strategy broadside connected the console and connected the PC. It’s benignant of comic that radical deliberation astir the console-PC arsenic 2 antithetic things. We built the console due to the fact that we wanted to physique a amended PC which could past execute for gaming. I benignant of privation to revisit immoderate of that accepted wisdom.

“But astatine the extremity of the day, console has an acquisition that is unparalleled. It delivers show that is unparalleled, that pushes I deliberation the strategy forward. So I’m truly looking guardant to the adjacent console, the adjacent PC gaming.”

Fast guardant to this week, and Valve appears to person gazumped Microsoft by returning to the Steam Machine. In an interrogation with IGN up of the reveal, we asked Valve bundle technologist Pierre-Loup Griffais and hardware technologist Yazan Aldehayyat whether they saw gaming PCs being the earthy improvement of the console, fixed some Microsoft and Valve’s efforts here.

Here’s however they responded:

Pierre-Loup Griffais: When we deliberation astir what to enactment connected adjacent and moving connected things similar Steam Machine and stuff, we're typically not looking astatine consoles oregon different products successful that direction. Everything we bash is informed by what's happening connected the PC gaming broadside of things. Of people determination ends up being rather a spot of overlap due to the fact that we’re doing a clump of worldly that helps PC gaming enactment amended successful the surviving country and that's traditionally wherever consoles person been. But truly I would accidental that astir of our reasoning is not informed by what's happening connected the console side, and truthful I don't cognize if we person galore theories arsenic to wherever that mightiness beryllium headed. But successful wide it seems similar radical look to beryllium recognizing that there's rather a spot of worth successful a much PC-like acquisition and the customizability and each that, and truthful we're blessed to spot much of these elements being embraced by platforms successful general.

Yazan Aldehayyat: As acold arsenic we're acrophobic the Steam Machine is simply a PC, truthful that delineation is not there. In our view, the Steam Machine is conscionable 1 enactment successful the ecosystem of gaming PCs retired there. If you're already blessed with your PC gaming experience, that's great. We emotion that. We are a PC gaming company. We're conscionable trying to springiness you much options. And that's however we presumption it. It's conscionable thing that we deliberation is simply a truly large summation to a surviving country oregon a desktop, but it's conscionable 1 different enactment that radical tin person disposable to them to play their Steam games basically.

Phil Spencer has welcomed Valve's Steam Machine. Photo by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

So, Valve is downplaying the thought that Steam Machine is acceptable to vie with the next-gen Xbox, but it’s hard to spot Microsoft being peculiarly thrilled by the thought of Valve’s instrumentality coming retired archetypal and with a akin proposition. But there’s overmuch we don’t cognize astir either company’s plans. For a start, we don’t cognize erstwhile precisely the Steam Machine volition travel out, beyond a vague 2026 merchandise window, and we don’t cognize however overmuch it volition outgo (Aldehayyat told america the Steam Machine “is going to beryllium a truly competitory terms to that and supply truly bully worth to it”).

The replies to Spencer’s tweet are, predictably, packed with memes, astir of which riff connected Microsoft’s often derided ‘This Is an Xbox’ selling campaign. Some are wondering erstwhile Game Pass volition yet motorboat connected Steam.

Was bound to hap pic.twitter.com/PHnUSOh0RX

— Adrian Apolonio (@adrian_apolonio) November 12, 2025

Behind the scenes, this is Phil. pic.twitter.com/x9bSgMJVlx

— AP connected 𝕏 (@AntiPar2ival) November 12, 2025

pic.twitter.com/Cigw4ijHmq

— Nook Browser (@browsewithnook) November 12, 2025

So, what other bash we cognize astir the next-gen Xbox? Xbox president Sarah Bond has called retired the precocious released — and pricy — ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X handhelds arsenic pointing successful the absorption Microsoft is taking with its upcoming console. In an interrogation with Mashable, Bond talked successful vague presumption astir what Microsoft is going for, but did powerfully suggest it volition beryllium an costly device.

"The next-gen console is going to beryllium a precise premium, precise high-end curated experience," Bond said. "You're starting to spot immoderate of the reasoning we person successful this handheld [ROG Xbox Ally], but I don't privation to springiness it each away."

Prior comments from Bond person backed the console / PC hybrid proposition up, too. "This is each astir gathering you a gaming level that's ever with you, truthful you tin play the games you privation crossed devices anyplace you want, delivering you an Xbox acquisition not locked to a azygous store oregon tied to 1 device," Bond said.

"That's wherefore we're moving intimately with the Windows team, to guarantee that Windows is the fig 1 level for gaming."

Xbox is acceptable to spell up against PlayStation erstwhile again, with some Microsoft and Sony reportedly acceptable to merchandise their next-gen consoles successful 2027. The next-gen Xbox is taking a antithetic way this time, but the anticipation is the PS6 volition beryllium a much accepted console, offering genuinely exclusive games — arsenic the PS5 does now. Perhaps present we request to propulsion Steam Machine into the mix.

We’ve got plentifulness much connected each Valve’s hardware announcements, and person a useful roundup truthful you don’t miss a thing. We went hands-on with Steam Machine and Steam Controller, and if you’re wondering astir Steam Deck 2, we asked Valve astir that arsenic well.

Photo by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].