The RAMpocalypse has bought Microsoft valuable time in the fight against SteamOS

Valve’s SteamOS has helped grow Linux’s presence among Steam players and made Windows games more viable on Linux.

That progress is pressuring Microsoft’s long-standing dominance in PC gaming, especially on handhelds and gaming hardware.

But Valve’s broader expansion is being slowed by rising costs, tariffs, and shortages of memory and storage components driven by AI demand.

Those supply-chain pressures are making it harder to scale SteamOS as a serious alternative to Windows.