Valve has replied to rumors of its alleged console by stating that it has no plans to release hardwareany time soon. However, the company did not explicitly state that it is not currently working on a console, and left open the possibility of releasing one in the future.

Kotaku asked:

What you’re saying is, there’s definitely nothing coming any time soon, nothing at GDC or E3, but what you’re not ruling out is the possibility that, hey, maybe some day Valve would make hardware.

Valve’s Lombardi replied:

I think that’s accurate.

Lombardi had preceded this statement with details on what the company currently is working on:

We’re prepping the Steam Big Picture Mode UI and getting ready to ship that, so we’re building boxes to test that on. We’re also doing a bunch of different experiments with biometric feedback and stuff like that, which we’ve talked about a fair amount.

All of that is stuff that we’re working on, but it’s a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m breathing a sigh of relief. Valve is one of the last bastions of PC gaming — to see it turn to the console market would be heartbreaking.

Do you want to see a Valve gaming console?

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Yeah, at first I wanted it, but now I'd much prefer that instead on making a new console, they partner up with one of the big 3 or better yet, try and get steam support on all next-gen consoles.

Yeah I don't really see it happening with Nintendo, but I guess it wouldn't be as big of a deal for Wii U users as it would for playbox4 people. I can definitely see it happening for SONY as PS3 already has some steam support and maybe microsoft will get it aswell if their next system is more open.

no way they could've pulled it off anyway

i dont see why not. They have a good first party, they have good relations with other devs. What could they not do? It doesn't have to dominate it would just have to be profitable. I think they can and I hope they do someday (or at least put out computer standards for hardware).

I think Steam bundled with a major console manufacturer would be the best option.

The problem now though is whether they can take on EA's Origin, and whether a console manufacturer would want to piss off such a major player.

Valve is a little fish, its as simple as that.

Hopefully this stops all the ridiculous rumors that were popping up everywhere.

I wouldn't want them involved with the console wars right now, seeing that they are going to be risking money if they were to do so. All in all, I'd love to see a new console pop out of no where, but I don't think that would happen 'till at least 10 years. But if it did, we all know who they'd be running up against-- Nintendo.

The other problem is, lets say for arguments sake, you offer both Origin and Steam.

Well then you're into a whole clusterfuck of compatability issues with online play. In addition, you're undercutting your own online networks.