New SteamOS Update Brings Steam Machine Support & Steam Deck Improvements

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This year has been challenging for the tech industry, with a shortage of memory chips affecting the availability and cost of many devices. This has caused problems keeping the Steam Deck OLED in stock and has delayed the release of several new products Valve announced last year. We still don’t know when these new items – including the Steam Machine, a new Steam Controller, and a new VR headset – will be available or how much they will cost. However, Valve insists they are still on track to launch everything in 2026, and a recent SteamOS update suggests they’re actively working towards that goal.

The Steam Machine was first announced in late 2025 with an expected release in early 2026. While that timeframe is now looking less likely as we approach late March, Valve still maintains it will launch in 2026. Recent updates suggest the ‘early’ release window is no longer accurate, but Valve is actively preparing for launch. A recent preview of a SteamOS update includes features designed for the Steam Machine, alongside other improvements, confirming its continued development.

SteamOS 3.8.0 Preview Prepares for “Upcoming Steam Machine Hardware” & More

On March 19th, Valve released details about a preview of the upcoming SteamOS 3.8.0 update. While still being tested, Steam users can try it out through the System Update Channel. The update includes many general improvements and bug fixes, but the most interesting part is that it adds initial support for new Steam Machine hardware. Although the timing isn’t specific, this confirms Valve is preparing the operating system for the new devices and suggests they’re still on track to launch this year.

This update includes a variety of improvements, even for users waiting for pricing on the Steam Machine. It features an updated graphics driver, fixes for bugs in certain games and overall system issues, and audio improvements. Bluetooth Wake is being restored for the original Steam Deck LCD model. Both the Steam Deck LCD and OLED versions will also receive important security updates.

If you want to see everything that’s new in SteamOS 3.8.0, Valve posted the full patch notes – I’ve linked them below so you can check it all out!

General

  • Initial support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware
  • Fix a case where per-app performance settings would intermittently fail to apply when launching a game
  • Improved support for the screencasts in Game Mode (e.g. OBS/Discord)
  • Fixed dropdown menus not appearing in some games
  • Improved VRR frame pacing
  • Fixed FSR badge remaining off in the performance overlay, even if it was actually active
  • Improved support for games that attempt to open PDF files in external viewers
  • Fixed an issue affecting certain titles (such as “SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide”) where the game window could have an incorrect position

    • Fixed closing certain titles (such as “STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor”) and Starfield resulting in a session crash

  • Improved support for certain USB racing wheels and USB devices that boot in a non-standard mode
    • Frequently these are devices that appear as USB storage devices with a driver installer, and must be switched to their normal mode by the OS
  • Steam Deck controller firmware updates now display update progress on the splash screen
  • Fixes issue on specific Steam Deck revisions where firmware updates could render the left controller inoperative for that session
  • Numerous stability and security updates

Bluetooth

  • Re-re-enable Bluetooth Wake for Steam Deck LCD
    • Fix for more spurious wake issues that were present in earlier attempts

Audio

  • Detect HDMI channel count and expose surround configuration if available
  • Add a setting to allow using Bluetooth headset mics (Bluetooth playback quality will be worse while capture is active)
  • Restore internal audio device on reboot if set to “Off” in desktop mode
  • Increase suspend timeout for HDMI devices so initial audio isn’t cut off after a few seconds of inactivity
  • Fixed a bug with switching input devices when a wired headset is plugged in
  • Fixed an issue where audio underruns could be experienced after sleep/resume

Accessibility

  • Added an option to force mono audio output

Desktop Mode

  • KDE Plasma updated to version 6.4.3 from 6.2.5, and now uses wayland by default
    • Fixes several cases of reduced performance in Desktop Mode compared to Game Mode
    • Improved support for rotated displays
    • Better scale factor out of the box on TVs
    • Adds support for external HDR displays
    • Adds support for VRR displays
    • Adds support per-display scale factor
    • For more information, see Plasma release announcements
      • https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.3.0/
      • https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.4.0/
  • Keyboard layout and language are now obeying Game Mode settings
  • Improved windowing behavior for games running in Proton

System Firmware

  • Includes Steam Deck LCD BIOS v133
    • Security updates
    • Added “Memory Power Down” setup option
    • Preliminary support for hibernation
  • Includes Steam Deck OLED BIOS v114
    • Security updates
    • Charging LED now changes color when charge limit is reached, rather than only at 100%

Non-Deck

  • Improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms
  • Greatly improved video memory management with discrete GPU platforms
  • Fixed a compatibility issue with the SteamOS chainloader that could cause a boot failure on some desktop systems with recent UEFI firmware
  • Power button short and long presses now supported across a wide variety of devices
  • Improved controller support for OneXPlayer F1 series, GPD Win 5, GPD Win Mini, Anbernic Win600, OrangePi NEO, and Lenovo Legion Go
  • Added controller support for OneXPlayer X1 series and Lenovo Legion Go 2
  • Added system and controller firmware update support for the Lenovo Legion Go 2
  • Added preliminary charge limiting support for Legion Go, Legion Go S, and Legion Go 2 – currently only accessible in Desktop Mode
  • Added controller RGB LED color settings for the Lenovo Legion Go 2
  • Added controller, TDP control, and speaker audio support for the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally series
  • Reduced handheld controller input latency from 5-8ms to 100-500us
  • Night mode, color vibrance, and color temperature sliders in Steam now work on Z2E and later AMD APUs
  • Seamless boot fixes for Z2E and later AMD APUs
  • Automatically handle internally rotated display for some third-party handhelds
  • Improved motion control support for handhelds with BMI260 IMUs
  • SD card reliability improvements for some third-party handhelds, including ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Legion Go 1, Legion Go S, Legion Go 2, and MSI Claw
  • Fixed washed out colors for Zotac and OneXPlayer handhelds with OLED
  • Fixed some GPU hangs on Phoenix APU devices (Tales of Arise, Octopath Traveler II)
  • Fixed ASUS ROG Ally power consumption from fingerprint reader while shut down

Developer

  • Desktop Mode now uses Wayland by default
    • X11 support may still be selected via Steam developer settings, or via `steamosctl`
  • Steam now uses steamos-manager to query available desktop sessions and trigger desktop session switching
  • Added support for setting the desktop password in developer settings
  • Initial support for running as a Virtual Machine guest (virtio guest drivers)
  • Added support for third-party devices to trigger the SteamOS boot menu via EFI variable
  • Added `custom-update` verb to `atomupd-manager` for easier testing of specific builds
  • System reports now include more audio debug information
  • Initial support for LAVD CPU scheduler via `steamosctl set-cpu-scheduler lavd`

Excited about the Steam Machine? Share your thoughts and join the discussion in the ComicBook Forum!

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/steams-latest-update-to-early-access-has-us-excited/embed/#

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2026-03-20 16:43