The latter half of last year was characterised in part by the promise of another entertainment disruptor on the horizon, namely Valve’s Steam machines, which were largely expected to revitalize PC gaming in the living room and give consoles a run for their money.

If you’ve been waiting almost half a year for impending announcements on Steam machines, and when they would become available, then Valve’s latest message – keep waiting - may come as a bit of a dampener, to say the least.

The company casually announced that it was now looking at a release window of its Steam machines in 2015, rather than 2014 as asserted last year. The source of the delay apparently lies with the controller. In Valve’s blog post, the company explained that it was using wireless prototype controllers to conduct live playtests, with everyone from industry professionals to die-hard gamers to casual gamers. “It's generating a ton of useful feedback, and it means we'll be able to make the controller a lot better. Of course, it's also keeping us pretty busy making all those improvements,” the company elaborated.

Just breathe

As much as we have loved Valve and the products they have delivered in the past, you may want to bear in mind that this is the same company that assured more regular, episodic Half Life content seven years ago. It is also the same company that is edging into Duke Nukem Forever territory with that particular gaming franchise, with nary an official peep for years about when, or even if, it intends to ever bring Half Life 2 to a satisfactory conclusion.

Our advice if you are looking forward to Steam machines, would be: don’t hold your breath. They will likely arrive when, and only when, Valve is good and ready, and not before.