Steam Deck Needs a Dedicated Xbox Game Pass App

The Steam Deck is one of 2022's greatest pieces of gaming hardware, but its integration of Xbox Game Pass is severely lacking right now. The Steam Deck has bridged the gap between

PC and console gaming, making the increasingly popular PC gaming market even more accessible to players who are more accustomed to experiences like those found on the Nintendo

Switch. With hundreds of games verified for use with the Steam Deck and the system becoming a best-seller, it's safe to say Valve is committed to supporting it through 2023 and

beyond. However, the video game industry is facing a major shift right now that puts the Steam Deck in a very interesting position. Microsoft shifting its focus to Xbox Game Pass

has put video game subscription services at the forefront of the industry's collective conscious. With PC gaming being one of the company's dedicated platforms, it would benefit

both Valve and Microsoft to get a dedicated Xbox Game Pass application on Steam Deck. GAMERANT VIDEO OF THE DAY RELATED: Steam Deck Gets Its First Transparent Shell Replacement The

Current State Of Xbox Game Pass on Steam Deck While Steam is one of the biggest storefronts in the entire video game industry and generates billions in revenue every year, many

purchasing Valve's Steam Deck are new to the service. That means they do not have massive libraries filled with games bought during quarterly sales like many other Steam users.

With this in mind, integrating subscriptions services to the platform gives new Steam Deck owners a slew of titles to play upon taking the system out of the box. Currently, the

only way to access Xbox Game Pass's vast catalog of games is by awkwardly installing a version of the Bing web application that allows for integrated streaming of Xbox Cloud Gaming

titles to the handheld. This arduous installation process is ineffective since it involves modifying the game's launch options in Steam's settings, the constant requirement of

high-speed internet, and its limitation to only the library of games supported by Xbox Cloud Gaming (which only includes Xbox console games). Microsoft has made some adjustments to

game streaming based on its performance on Steam Deck, but this is still far from ideal for those paying for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. How Xbox Game Pass Could Work

On Steam Deck There are many factors to consider when theorizing how Xbox Game Pass could be efficiently adapted to Steam Deck. Microsoft could bring an application to the platform

similar to the Xbox launcher for Windows PCs. This approach makes sense, but is likely to cause issues with the main method that the Steam Deck uses to launch Windows games,