Looks like Valve is working on a SteamOS device codenamed fremont. Maybe a standalone Steam Box

[Gary Klein]

I spotted this change in the Steam Deck kernel by a Valve employee that is testing HDMI CEC for a new device. Interestingly, it appears to share at least some hardware similarity to Google ChromeOS devices (only because the change is in the ChromeOS Embedded Controller driver).

The device appears to be being developed on a platform codenamed the "AMD Lilac." Whether this is the SOC or refers a development board that Valve is developing with is unclear to me. On Geekbench there are references to the AMD Lilac, most of which use the AMD 8540U (it's possible that this won't be the final SoC of the device, as these are all likely prototype boards). There are a few earlier references in Geekbench with earlier SoCs.

Pure speculation: I'm guessing it's a console, set top box, or something similar that is supposed to connect to a TV and not a handheld or VR headset, given that HDMI CEC seems to be an important feature. The inclusion of ChromeOS hardware is confusing.

Pure speculation on the updates to ChromeOS EC: This is the most surprising thing to me.

Maybe the device could just be using the hardware and drivers for ChromeOS devices while still running just SteamOS, but I don't see the point in Valve doing that.

Maybe there's some sort of collaboration with Google, as Valve is actually working with them to bring Steam to ChromeOS.

I think it's plausible (at least) that fremont will run a Steam client on top of ChromeOS instead of SteamOS.

Diving into deeper speculation, this may allow Valve to run existing Android apps on the same device, specifically Android TV apps, which would make sense if this is something like an Nvidia Shield competitor. ChromeOS is just about the only OS that can officially run both Android TV apps and desktop Steam on the same OS.

I find it likely that for a gaming and media-focused Steam box, Valve will want to have an existing ecosystem of media and streaming apps optimized for TV. If so, I think it’s a smart way to push into this market without needing to convince, say, all the streaming services to build apps for a new device.

The prototype board is much faster than Steam Deck:

Geekbench CPU result for Lilac (8540U): 2550 for single core and in the 9000s for multicore https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/8301932

Steam Deck is in the 1300-1400 range for single core and in the 4000s for multicore

Geekbench GPU result for Lilac (8540U): 66807 https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/compute/2323659

Steam Deck tends to be within the mid 10000s to mid 20000s

The greatly improved performance, to me, suggests a TV box, as the 8540U at handheld TDPs would score much more competitively with the Steam Deck.

[Paul Raker]

I'm the exact target for a Nvidia Shield competitor from Valve !

I used the shield to stream games for quite some time before my steamdeck. While it still works fine, there are a lot of ads on the home menu, and no new model since 2019.

Also, this could mean finally an update to Steamlink to get it more up to par with Moonlight.

[G786]

You should look at downloading a different home launcher like: 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spocky.projengmenu

 

 

I installed it day 1 of having a Shield and it's great

[Sarah77]

Man, it would be great if someone would put Sony and MS in check on the console market

[Fred34]

I am all in for this if it’s real.

A steam box that can run newer games at 1080p or 1440p with decent performance would be a day one purchase for me

[Quentin67]

Only thing that confuses me is: What are the benefits of using an ultra-low-powered apu in a device thats tethered to the wall? If its a dedicated tv game console, why use a U variant APU?

[369DYF]

A very fine point. Maybe this is part of the mythical Deckard? Oculus Quest-like thing strapped to your head, you'd prize weight over all else (ie no giant heat sink/fan for a normal CPU) because you don't want your neck to get tired and you're not far from a plug if the battery runs low since you aren't expecting to play a VR game out and about?

[polarbearguy]

This could also be CEC fixes like the Deck got months ago...

Deckard is meant to be a "Steam Deck in VR" and supposedly Desktop Game Theater supports 3D now... Roy controllers look like Steam Deck controls...

Steam deck -> "Your games, Everywhere"

Steam Deck OLED -> "Your Games, In a whole new light"

Deckard -> "Your Games, in another dimension"

If a major selling point of it is that "It's just a VR Steam Deck, so you can play all your games in 3D" it would make sense for it to support a docking station like the Steam Deck... If you can play your 2D games on the headset in VR, why not leverage the USB C port (it's gotta have one to charge anyways) for docking capabilities too? And if it's dockable and running Steam(VR) OS, it'd basically just act like a Steam Deck when you dock it...

Another note is... If that is the case, HDMI CEC support is a pretty non-critical function that I'd think would come pretty late in development, so it's possible the EV versions are done and they're into the DV versions, possibly even getting to final production and this is just getting some day-zero or day-one software updates ready...

[Dwaynepolt]

In theory, if it could connect directly to the Deck for streaming (Wii U style), maybe it's not just meant for the wall. I could see the benefit of having it battery-powered (internally or with a power bank) to walk around the house with for a stronger signal to the client.