Okay, so. Xi3 finally priced its “Steam Box”-ish device at around $999. Which is a lot of money. A couple of days later, Valve made it excruciatingly clear that it has no involvement with the Xi3 team: “Valve began some exploratory work with Xi3 last year, but currently has no involvement in any product of theirs.”

Snap! Some think the company is attempting to distance itself due to the negative backlash over the very high price of the Piston. Especially since Valve is still trying to make a Steam Box of its own. But wait, there’s more! The folks over at Xi3 don’t seem to agree with Valve’s view on the subject, noting in a statement:

“We reaffirm the fact that we received an investment from Valve Corporation (as we previously disclosed during the 2013 International CES trade show), and we did so with Valve's written permission. Second, we were asked to build a product specifically for Valve, and both companies showcased this product—the Piston Console—in their respective booths at CES 2013.”

While some are seeing this as some sort of crazy drama, it’s probably just a case of mixed messages. Valve looked into the Piston early but stopped working with Xi3, and the “no involvement” quote is likely poor phrasing for “no further involvement.”

But who knows? We’ll just have to see if Valve issues a reply.

[Kotaku]

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