New Valve guidelines hint at huge Steam hardware expansion
Expect to see a lot of Steam-branded hardware in 2025
It looks like Valve is planning a big push into the hardware market, with new Steam logos and branding for a huge range of products. Thanks to Valve’s new Logo and Branding Guidelines, which were spotted by Steam users on Reddit, Valve is getting ready to put their Steam logo everywhere.
For starters, Valve’s new “Powered By SteamOS” logo suggests that 2025 will be the year of third-party SteamOS devices. This means that manufacturers can ship hardware with SteamOS pre-installed, enabling the creation of third-party Steam Deck devices. Below is what Steam has to say about this branding/logo.
The Powered by SteamOS logo indicates that a hardware device will run the SteamOS and boot into SteamOS upon powering on the device. Partners /
manufacturers will ship hardware with a Steam image in the form provided by and / or developed in close collaboration with Valve. Physical alterations should not be made to the logo and it should not be combined with any other branding elements.
Other brands and logos from Valve include “Steam Compatible,” which is for hardware that ships with Valve-approved controller inputs. This suggests that we will soon be seeing Steam-optimised controllers from third parties.
There is also a “Steam Link Compatible” logo for devices that have Valve-approved Steam Link compatibility. Steam Link is Valve’s PC gaming software, which allows games to be streamed to other PCs, VR headsets, or other clients on the same network. This suggests that Valve wants its Steam Link software to be included in more devices and for these devices to be marketed as such. Additionally, we have a Steam Included logo, which can be used on PCs that come with Valve’s Steam client pre-installed.
(New Steam Logos for brands and partners)
Expect to see a lot of Valve’s Steam logos in 2025
Valve now seems certain to make a major hardware push in 2025. After all, why make guidelines like these if you don’t intend to use them? All of a sudden, people will start to see Valve’s Steam logo appearing everywhere. As a result, Steam’s brand recognition will continue to grow. Yes, Steam is already well known amongst PC gamers, but soon, their logo may start appearing on TVs, tablets, VR headsets, game controllers, and more. As a result of this, Steam’s branding may become a lot more well-recognised by non-gamers.
You can join the discussion on Valve’s plans for SteamOS-powered devices on the OC3D Forums.
