Harrison: Microsoft is watching what Valve does 'with great interest'

With this week's SteamOS and Steam Machines reveal, Valve's grand step into the living room might make the other major inhabitants uneasy. Microsoft's corporate VP Phil Harrison acknowledged the Steam creators in a recent interview with Eurogamer, saying that "Valve is a very impressive company, and obviously we're going to be watching what they do with great interest."

While the Xbox One's impending launch is set for November 22, Harrison recently said in his Eurogamer Expo keynote that the console will be around for ten years. Valve's Steam Machines doesn't seem to impact that projection.

"I think the death of the video game console was prematurely announced," Harrison continued, going back to an earlier question in the interview about the future of gaming consoles. "Clearly there is a lot of excitement around gaming in the living room on the biggest screen in the house, often times connected to a great sound system and creating that real intensely high quality game experience with a very powerful CPU and a very powerful GPU."

"Our point of view, clearly, is that Xbox One is the best incarnation of that, but competition is good," he said. If Microsoft wants to watch Valve's approach closer, its best bet is getting in on the Steam Machines hardware beta, which includes the Steam Controller announced today.