Valve says its dedicated Steam Machines project is still active, despite the boxes apparently disappearing from its online store. It’s also committing to ongoing work on Linux-powered gaming.

SteamOS, a Linux-based system designed specifically for PC gaming, debuted in 2013. It was followed two years later by the first Steam Machines, dedicated computers running the system and designed for connecting directly to a TV set.

The apparent deletion of Steam Machines from the Steam store this week sparked speculation that the project had been ditched because of poor sales. However, the company has now posted to say that the listings are still there, it’s just that the relevant link has been removed from the main navigation bar. That’s telling in itself as the redesign of the bar was based on how many people were clicking through to particular pages.

Valve concedes that “Steam Machines aren’t exactly flying off the shelves” but says it is still working on the project and that it will “ultimately result in a better experience for developers and customers alike, including those not on Steam.” In particular, it is putting “significant resources” into Vulkan, a graphics API.

At the same time, we’re continuing to invest significant resources in supporting the Vulkan ecosystem, tooling and driver efforts. We also have other Linux initiatives in the pipe that we’re not quite ready to talk about yet; SteamOS will continue to be our medium to deliver these improvements to our customers, and we think they will ultimately benefit the Linux ecosystem at large.