I'm getting some xkcd 2501 vibes here.

Looked at steam hardware survey for October 2018 Vs 2025 to compare.

I'd say that in 2018 roughly 43% of steam users had a better GPU than the PS4, and in 2025 about 37% have one better than the PS5. So definitely a decline in how fast the average Steam user catches up to console spec, though not a massive one.

Probably down to A. The apocalyptic GPU prices we had for a year during COVID, and B. The consoles this generation were much more competitive to current pc tech.

The PS4 was most similar to a Radeon 7850. A $250 GPU that was released over 1.5 years before the PS4.

Whereas PS5 got RDNA2 just before  the first PC card launched, and it's closest pc equivalent launched almost a year later at $380.

Seems like I overestimated the upgrade rate of the average PC gamer before the PS5 generation.

There are a lot of factors

- 2018 90 million monthly active users, 2025 150 million monthly active users, dilution of hardcore games, more laptop users getting on Steam.
- Inflation and stagnating income, people have less money to buy the more expensive GPUs.
- Games running better on older hardware, longer cross gen period.
- Continuing growing focus on indie and older games nowadays, fewer taxing AAA games coming out.
- RT and 4K not living up to the hype or rather the more casual gamer doesn't care, so doesn't need to upgrade.

Diminishing returns.

Don't know if that's good or bad for the GabeCube. It's not as versatile as a laptop, so it all depends on the price.

I wonder why Sony and Microsoft don't realize that Steam is a competitor, Valve is showing clear signs of wanting to take market share not just from other PC stores but also from consoles by launching a TV box like the Steam machine. And Valve is making this new hardware knowing full well that all Xbox games are playable as well as many PS first party games on this Steam box. So Sony and Microsoft are feeding a direct competitor to them. Nintendo on the other hand realizes that Valve is no less a competitor than Xbox and PS, and will therefor never port a single game to Steam and unless Switch 2 gets hacked soon the box will not play Switch 2 games.

Steam is not an avenue to make more money for your product if you are a console focused company, they are a competitor with interest to grow their own ecosystem at the expense of your ecosystem. Porting PS games to Steam makes no sense, it would be like porting those games to the Nintendo eshop. Because on this Steam box you can play both PS games as well as all the games that will never get ported to PS like the coming Half Life 3. Nothing is more ironic than Valve knowing that exclusivity is important while Sony and Microsoft doesn't. That is why Valve sees Nintendo as a challenge, because Nintendo has not bowed down to feeding the Steam ecosystem with titles, which is why Valve first set their sights on Nintendo with their Steam Deck years ago. And now they are instead moving towards challenging PS/Xbox. The Steam Machine is for PS/Xbox what Steam Deck was for Switch.

Steam is to Playstation and Microsoft what Netflix is to cable TV, and streaming services are to digital stores like iTunes

Consoles were something that made sense when technology advanced fast enough to justify regular hardware purchases, and the hardware needed to be friendly enough for people with low digital literacy to plug and play (for an affordable price)

You dont need to think much to see realize how most of those points are slowly ceasing to exist. Soon there will only reason to purchase a console instead of using Steam: Habit and familiarity (either with the technology or with the games)

You cannot really compete against someone whose business model, on its core, is simply much more efficient. When consoles compete directly against Steam where their standing grounding is similar (read: Developing markets) consoles always lose  

What prevents consoles form collapsing is the fact human beings past young adult years hate to change how they do things. Consoles are generation after generation unable to create new markets, they are currently in the red ocean that's why no console can grown past 160 million range (and if we are tlaking about active playbase, they dont even get to 120 million range), while Steam user count will be well past 200 million somewhere in future 

Right now Sony seems focused in keeping the userbase they already cultivated for as long they are willing to keep buying Playstation. They know they cannot capture Steam users, releasing their games on Steam is simply to farm extra money from an userbase who will never buy a Playstation in first place 

My kid has a Switch and wants a PS5 now.  My nieces and nephews all have Switches. I think kids enjoy playing games on consoles and on their ipads.

Are you guys still talking about a trailer that released 11 months ago? We haven't gotten new information on it.

You don't own any games you have bought on Steam.

For that fact alone some people like me, even as it's the vast minority, yes, doesn't even consider Steam as a my primary gaming platform.

The day this happens to future consoles it really becomes mostly a question of already having a library elsewhere or just habit as you mentioned.

They certainly do, since consoles are very practical. Even more so because of the couch co-op, you can play It Takes two or Mario Kart with a single console and two controllers. Perfect setup for families

But once they get into their teenager years and start playing multi-player games with their friends all the convenience of PCs. PC is full of Free to Play games, and with diminish returns and games taking forever to make, it's very common for even a 10 year old PC to last long enough to keep playing games 

The fact Steam has more users than any other consoles platform with close to zero marketing, very few advertising and almost no retail presence speaks for itself. Steam get new players mostly due to word of mouth. Kids are more likely to be bombarded with advertising, hence why they ask their parents about consoles