Valve is reportedly developing a new Steam console, codenamed "Fremont," designed to connect directly to your TV. Recent leaks suggest that Fremont will surpass the Steam Deck in performance, featuring a custom AMD Hawk Point 2 CPU with six cores and 12 threads, likely based on Zen 4 architecture. Benchmark tests indicate a multi-core score of 7,451, nearly doubling that of the Steam Deck. Additionally, Fremont is rumored to include a dedicated Radeon RX 7600 GPU with 8GB of memory, offering enhanced graphics capabilities.
Another device, codenamed "Galileo," is speculated to be a lower-tier version of Fremont. These benchmarks have surfaced from Quanta factory testing, suggesting that they are prototypes. The console is expected to launch alongside Valve's anticipated Deckard VR headset and new Steam controllers later in 2025. This development marks Valve's renewed interest in the hardware market, following the previous Steam Machines initiative, which faced challenges due to limited support. With SteamOS expanding to other devices, a new console may soon become a reality.
In related news, Valve has announced a significant update to Steam's search functionality. The new features aim to enhance user experience by allowing players to filter games by price, sales offers, genre, tags, wishlist status, language support, and more. Additionally, the update introduces infinite scrolling for search results, making it easier to discover new titles. These improvements are part of Valve's ongoing efforts to refine the Steam platform and provide a more personalized gaming experience.
However, not all recent developments have been positive. Google has officially announced the discontinuation of its Steam for Chromebook Beta program, effective January 1, 2026. After this date, users will no longer be able to access or play games installed via the beta. The program, launched in 2022 to bring mainstream gaming to ChromeOS, struggled with limited popularity and technical limitations, leading to its eventual termination.
In summary, Valve's upcoming Steam console "Fremont" promises to deliver enhanced performance and graphics capabilities, potentially revitalizing the company's hardware presence. The planned update to Steam's search functionality aims to improve user experience, while the discontinuation of Steam for Chromebook Beta reflects the challenges of expanding gaming platforms to diverse hardware.
