Valve intends to provide the new Steam Machine with a level of post-launch software support and feature updates comparable to that of the Steam Deck. Lawrence Yang, a Valve hardware designer, stated in a recent interview that the company already has a list of planned enhancements for the device, some of which were not ready in time for its initial release.
Yang explained that Valve's approach to hardware support is consistent across its products. "Whenever we ship something, we're never like, 'Okay, we're moving on.' We always continue shipping updates and improvements, especially in the first month or so," he said. This philosophy is exemplified by the Steam Deck's history, which has seen SteamOS updates introduce significant new features such as a lock screen, custom boot videos, and video recording capabilities, in addition to ongoing compatibility improvements for Proton, Valve's Windows compatibility layer.
Many of these additions were directly influenced by user feedback gathered after the Steam Deck's launch. Yang recalled that "so much really great feedback from customers" highlighted issues or suggested features that the internal testing pool had missed. This community-driven input led to features like customizable boot videos and lock screens being implemented.
The Steam Machine has already seen significant updates during its pre-release phase. For instance, beta updates have notably improved ray tracing performance and provided a substantial framerate boost for games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, pushing its 1080p/High performance from 19fps to 31fps. Additionally, the Steam Machine recently gained support for FSR 4, which, while sometimes showing a slight performance decrease compared to FSR 3.1 in tested titles like Forza Horizon 6 and Cyberpunk 2077, offers improved visual clarity and detail, especially on larger displays typical of a home console setup. This enhancement means even recent reviews may already be out of date with the latest performance optimizations.