Steam Founder Gabe Newell Says Apple Could Be Biggest Player in Games Market

Apple is better placed than Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo to take a lead in the games console market, said Gabe Newell, founder of the games-distribution hub Steam in a speech at the University of Texas.

newell
As noted by Polygon, Newell argued that games served from a PC in the home direct to a TV, rather than from a games console, are the future of the market. But if the PC industry does not move quickly enough to establish itself in the living room, Newell sees an opportunity for Apple to seize the market.

"The threat right now is that Apple has gained a huge amount of market share, and has a relatively obvious pathway towards entering the living room with their platform," Newell said. "I think that there's a scenario where we see sort of a dumbed down living room platform emerging — I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily. The question is can we make enough progress in the PC space to establish ourselves there, and also figure out better ways of addressing mobile before Apple takes over the living room?"


Newell's full one-hour session

While Apple has not made any noises about a fresh entry into the games market, it did file patents for a Wii-style wireless controller back in 2008, and has been rumored to be working on a gesture-based user interface for the Apple television set which has obvious potential gaming applications.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

mw360 Avatar
162 months ago
Please no. Gaming is something Apple don't get. I don't want a console that has a featureless black sphere as its only controller. Some things are meant to be complex.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lixivial Avatar
162 months ago
Apple is better placed than Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo to take a lead in the games console market, said Gabe Newell, founder of the games-distribution hub Steam (http://store.steampowered.com) in a speech at the University of Texas (//www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8QEOBgLBQU).

I think it'd be more accurate to say that Gabe Newell is the co-founder of Valve, which operates Steam, rather than as the founder of Steam proper.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rmwebs Avatar
162 months ago
I hope not.

This is one thing Microsoft do very well. I love my good ol' 360. Had it since 2005 and its quite remarkable that 8 years on, games like LA Noire with its advanced graphics can look and work so well.

Apple would be pissing around trying to eliminate the controller - we like the controller as it is thank you very much.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
uknowimright Avatar
162 months ago
guy just needs to shut up and put out HL3
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JaySoul Avatar
162 months ago
Apple could definitely do it, but they need to get a move on.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MagnusVonMagnum Avatar
162 months ago
Phone games are not even real games.

WTF is a "real" game? Given the complexity of games on iOS, I guess that means all Amiga, C64, Coleco and Intellivision weren't "real" games (let alone an Odyssey or heaven forbid an analog PONG machine). :rolleyes:
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)