Former Xbox exec Major Nelson praises Valve's Steam Machine as "choice is always good," but doesn't think it should be dragged into a console war: "Not everything needs a winner or loser"

A former Microsoft executive of over 20 years has given his two cents on Valve's Steam Machine.

For two decades, Larry Hryb (more famously known as Major Nelson) was Xbox's most visible frontman, and was director of programming for Xbox Live for a large portion of that time, so he knows a thing or two about the dreaded console wars that have fandoms pit plastic boxes and billion dollar corporations against each other.

And it's an online 'war' that the recently-revealed Steam Machine's also been pulled into. Even though the new Valve hardware is technically a smaller, pre-built gaming PC compatible with all the same accessories as your regular desktop, Valve is leaning into console comforts that might make it competitive in the living room this time around.

But Hryb doesn't think the Steam Machine needs to be pitted against Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo.

"It's been an interesting 24-hours in gaming as I read the previews and debate about the new Steam hardware," the ex-Microsoft exec says in an online post. "Remember: Not everything needs a winner or loser. Choice is always good. Game where, how and when you like. Where YOU find YOUR fun is all that matters." Hear, hear.

Current Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer was similarly excited about the new machine as he said "gaming moves forward when players and developers have more ways to play and create, especially across open platforms." No doubt the company will be watching the Steam Machine's performance very closely since all signs point to the next-gen Xbox also being a PC/console hybrid.

Valve's Steam Machine is "great news" for Microsoft because it means Xbox can just "make great games" and worry less about hardware, says former Blizzard exec: "All will go in the right direction"