Mike Straw Is Being Vague on Twitter and I'm Ready to Be Hurt Again

Rumor Mill
Written By NLM Team

This is a terrible idea. I'm mainlining the hopium and preparing for the inevitable, soul-crushing comedown.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

We are two. Fucking. Days. removed from Valve announcing a mountain of god-tier hardware, and then immediately curb-stomping our dreams by confirming "no first-party VR content" is in the works.

I was processing. I was grieving. I was moving on.

And then Mike Straw, a senior editor at Insider Gaming who's been talking a lot about Valve lately, decides to log onto Twitter and post this: "It's happening soon enough. Just be ready."

Goddamnit.

A Rorschach Test for Broken Gamers

This tweet is poison. It's a blank canvas for every desperate gamer to project their wildest, most broken dreams onto.

And I am the most broken of all.

This isn't a vacuum. Straw knows what he's doing. This is coming right after I (correctly, I might add - gotta take my small wins) predicted the new hardware. The Steam Machine, the new Steam Controller, the 'Steam Frame' VR headset... it's all real and it's all coming in 2026.

The only piece missing was the "Why." Why build a high-end VR headset with no games? Why build a console-killer PC without a console-killing exclusive?

Okay, But What If...

This is the part where I lose my mind.

The "no VR content" quote was a dagger. It killed the Half-Life: Alyx 2 or Left 4 Dead VR dream. Fine.

But Valve isn't just releasing a VR headset. They are releasing a powerful new Steam Machine. A box designed to live under your TV.

What does a new piece of gaming hardware need at launch? It needs a "system seller." It needs the game.

What if "It" isn't a VR game? What if "It" is the launch title for the new Steam Machine?

What if "It" is the game? The white whale. The one that ends in a "3."

It... it actually makes a horrible kind of sense. Launch the new PC-console ecosystem in 2026 alongside the most anticipated PC game in the history of the universe. My god, I hate that this sounds plausible.

Let's Pour Some Cold Water on That

Okay, deep breaths. Let's be realistic.

"It" could be a million other things. The most likely candidate is probably Deadlock. We all know it's coming. A full open beta or a shadow drop "soon" would fit the bill. It's the sensible, boring, and most probable answer.

It's definitely not Team Fortress 3. The rumors I reported on said that's at least half a decade away. "Soon" it ain't.

Or, in the most painful timeline, "It" has nothing to do with Valve at all. Maybe he's just excited for a sandwich he ordered.

I hate this. I hate this stupid, beautiful, agonizing hype cycle. But I'm an addict and that tweet is my drug.

The hardware is coming. Mike Straw is tweeting. I'm choosing to believe.

Just be ready to find me crying in a ditch when "It" turns out to be a new hat pack for Dota 2.

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NLM Team
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