Valve’s Answer to Xbox and PlayStation Isn’t Happening This Year

Valve has delayed its push into the game console business, saying the first Steam Machines won’t arrive until some time next year.

In a forum post spotted by Ars Technica, Valve’s Eric Hope explained that the company needs more time to complete its unique controller, which trades standard thumbsticks for touch sensitive pads. Valve is currently testing the controllers and gathering feedback, Hope wrote, but it’ll be a while before any improvements are in place. Although Valve had originally planned to ship Steam Machines and the controller in 2014, the company is realistically looking at a “release window of 2015,” Hope wrote.

“Obviously we’re just as eager as you are to get a Steam Machine in your hands,” he wrote. “But our number one priority is making sure that when you do, you’ll be getting the best gaming experience possible.”

Valve’s controller has already seen one big change since its announcement last fall: Instead of having a touch screen in-between the two touch pads, it’ll use a more typical a directional pad and four face buttons.

As announced in September, Steam Machines will be able to run games from Valve’s popular Steam PC gaming service, as long as they support Linux. For all other games, players can stream them from another PC elsewhere in the house.