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SteamOS massively beats Windows on the Legion Go S (www.gamingonlinux.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/games@lemmy.world
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[–] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

I hate to say it, but if MS released a competitor, it will probably outsell the Deck 5:1 regardless of quality, if only because of the advertising reach. Your average non-gamer has never heard of Steam. Everyone and their grandmother know MS and would therefore be more willing to get one for their kid.

Edit: I suppose I should explain a bit. People here are comparing Steam DAUs to console DAUs. That’s not the same as sales.

All of those users are already playing on a computer. Also, many of the most popular games on Steam I are free and low-spec. A lot of Steam users are not spenders.

Compare the 3.7 million Deck sales to the 2.2 million Switch 2 preorders (and the 150 million Switch 1 sales) before it even hit shelves. You can’t even buy a Deck in a store and you won’t see an ad for one. If MS makes a handheld, they’ll have billions at their disposal in advertising.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago*

    Did you know that Steam's monthly active user base dwarfs any single console out there? At this point, it's almost as large as PlayStation and Xbox combined; definitely bigger than the combined install base for each of their current gen consoles. Steam is more mainstream than PlayStation at this point. (However, the caveat is that the Steam Deck can't be purchased at Walmart.)

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    I would rather bet that most people have no clue what an operating system is and that the one they (unknowingly) use is made by Microsoft. On the other hand if they play games (on that PC), they will know Steam, because they actively had to install it and click its icon frequently.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Meanwhile in reality, Xbox as a console ain't doing so great.

    Your average non-gamer

    Isn't a target market. Gamers range into their 60s and onward now. If someone 'isn't a gamer' chances are they're aren't even going to be.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    The Steam Deck was the way of bringing SteamOS to the masses, now the HW developers will sell their devices in Walmart just by the Switch and the other consoles, it will be cheaper due to the 0 license cost (or, you know, pocketing the difference) with a big, ever expanding, catalog.

    About the Switch 2, the hype is there definitely and it is a known brand, mainly sold to families and casual gamers. But even PlayStation and Xbox are not competing with Nintendo.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    I agree with everything you said, but I still don’t think that will change the decision of someone on the fence. The Deck is the odd one out.

    Don’t get me wrong, I love the Deck and SteamOS and want it to succeed, and expect them to to a certain degree, but I just know the average consumer and they’ll just look at the SteamOS handhelds as a weird knockoff gaming computer.

    We all know how special it is because we were the target market. But when all is said and done, it comes down to what people know.

    If Valve was advertising like the big guys do, maybe, but with no ad support, not a chance.

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