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Hardware maker Xi3 has addressed today's confusion, telling Kotaku tonight that despite Valve's statements this morning, the Steam makers actually asked Xi3 to design the Piston PC.

In a strange statement this morning, Valve distanced themselves from Piston, a living-room-friendly PC that some have taken to calling an unofficial 'Steam Box' because it is designed to hook up to your television and play games in Steam's Big Picture mode—and because Xi3 said it had been backed by Valve.

"Valve began some exploratory work with Xi3 last year, but currently has no involvement in any product of theirs," Valve marketing head Doug Lombardi said in a statement originally obtained by Eurogamer (and by Kotaku later today).

Lombardi's statement was tough to square with what Xi3 had announced in January, when they first showed off the Piston at CES in Las Vegas. At the time, Xi3 said that Valve was helping back the new hardware.

"Xi3 also announced today it has received an investment from Valve Corporation," Xi3 said in a press release then. "Xi3's new development stage computer game system is also being showcased in Valve's booth (#25730) at CES 2013. No additional details about Xi3's new system or Valve's investment in Xi3 will be released at this time."

Last weekend, Xi3 announced that the Piston will launch this holiday season with models starting at $1,000.

We've been reaching out to both Xi3 and Valve all day to get some clarification, and in a statement sent to Kotaku tonight, Xi3 said that Valve not only invested in the Piston, but the Steam makers actually asked them to make it.

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