Xbox Features 'Steam' Games In New Mockup UI Image From GDC

If the next Xbox console has Steam and can maybe run PCVR games....Those are incredible selling points for anyone without the spare $2500 minimum for a beefy PC. As someone who only built a PC in late 2023, I can attest that PC gaming is excellent because of the variety and choices it offers gamers as well as the frequent and incredible storefront sales and discounts.

Won't the PC prices on Steam undercut those on the XBox store by some margin?

@AndroidBango
And that is bad for gamers how? Maybe bad for MS profit margins, but definitely not bad for gamers.

Am I right in saying we are feeling the next Xbox will just be a PC box/tower.

But we have that already with a PC with an HDMI output that connects to the TV, even my TV has a PC mode for it.

If so what’s the difference, just that it won’t be upgradable and have a Microsoft games UI when you turn it on.

Sounds good to me if steams on 😎 ik still sub to gp n buy games but I can buy games I wanna play that aren't on console let's gooo🥺😎

This is pretty exciting if you ask me, being able to play everything on Steam as well as what's on Xbox 😳 think of the possibilities!

@NeoRatt I didn't say it would be bad for gamers.

Just struggling to understand why Microsoft would allow a competitor onto their platform that would undercut them.

I want the opposite - Gamepass sub through Steam so I can finally get Gamepass on my Steam Deck

I was interested… until they removed it.

The idea is very cool, but the fact they quietly removed it shows they don’t even know how to make it a reality.

If Steam comes to the next Xbox I’m there day one.

We don’t know what could happen, it’s possible

also, let’s take everything we see with a grain of salt until we get official confirmation because that could be a mockup they might have accidentally put up

@OldGamer999 well you should keep a open mind regardless because plans could change

@donv2135
They most definitely could at Microsoft HQ.

I lost sorry🤷 I don't have a clue about pc gaming but it sounds exciting 🕺

just looks like the windows app trying to integrate your steam library, if this comes to xbox consoles then i'll be interested

Phil was asked on Destin’s podcast a few months back if Steam would come to Xbox in the future and Phil just laughed and went to the next question. He never said yes but he sure as heck didn’t say no and the laugh was a yes more on that later vibe. I posted that on here before. I have said before i will eat all 4 of my truck tires if Steam in some way isn’t apart of the Xbox plan. It’s the only way they can get into the PC/Hybrid Console space. There is no way to be part of PC without Steam. Steam is PC gaming at the point.

All that looks like currently is the ability to see all your games on one screen for the handheld / PC app. Its basically what Armory Crate already does on the Ally I belive.

@Ricky-Spanish

I was a PC gamer for like 20 years and It's terrible, filled with bugs/glitches/errors/problems, and PC players who play more than just a few different games, spend so much time fiddling with things to try and make games playable, total waste of time.

Steam games on xbox will all mostly be unplayable, mark my words

@Kaloudz

No, games won't work, see my posts, mark my words

@gollumb82

If steam comes to the next xbox, I'm a PS proper console owner day 1

Actually, if when Starfield comes to PS, I'm a PS owner, dumping the Xbox, desiring the proper console experience, not a Console-PC gaming hybrid garbage filled with bugs/glitches and unplayable games.

It’s not that hard to understand why they would do that, Steam on Xbox would bring most of the games to Xbox, even the companies skipping Xbox like Japanese companies and even PlayStation games on Xbox.

Of course if Steam players buy this new Xbox console, they will keep buying games on Steam, but this is also true for Xbox players they will certainly continue to buy their games on Xbox store.

However if you have Steam players on a new Xbox, what can you do?
You can control the OS, you can show things you cannot do on a PC… like someone trying to buy the new DOOM on Steam and suddenly you see a pop up saying this games is “free” if you take the Xbox game pass…
Now I think you can understand why they want Steam on Xbox.

@TheGiraffe Well I have a Steam Deck and the verifed games just work without doing anything. And some of them are new games like Spiderman 2 and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Microsoft could do something similar for a potential Steam app for Xbox. Imagine playing Sony published games like Spiderman 2 in an Xbox via a Steam client.

@belmont

Yeah, good call, they really really need a verification/validation/checking system, because I can tell you that any old steam game booted up just won't work 99% of the time.

But personally I don't care for 3rd-person view, so most of Sony's games are duds to me.

I'd bet dollars to doughnuts everyone is expecting more from this than the reality will offer.

I'm gonna keep it a buck since I know what this really is for most of you. Y'all think this means you'll be able to play playstation games on xbox by means of steam and I'm gonna let you know Sony will almost certainly block that just like they did with Geforce now due to licensing.

sony will sue no sony games will be allowed for steam on xbox.

@Doublecell

Yeah and any Non-Sony Steam game that is worth playing on Xbox is on Xbox already because it's AAA and already been ported by a large dev team.

Heck, even AA goodies like Terminator: Resistance are already on Xbox as is.

Steam on Xbox = Steam A-grade SLOP on Xbox, duds.

Maybe you guys should hold on to your Series consoles after all if you don't want to lose access to most of your games but either way it's clear Microsoft is done being in the console business and the next one is just a PC with an Xbox sticker on it

"Windows Central understands that traditional Win32 will be the preferred development environment for the next mainline Xbox consoles, with Xbox One/Series X|S "ERA" environment gradually phased out. Where that leaves our existing library of Xbox ERA games remains to be seen, but it seems emulation is one avenue Microsoft is exploring for backward compatibility and game preservation."

I'd love to see what 3rd party publishers have to say about the last part lmao.

@TheGiraffe
Reading your replies here I have a feeling you have already decided to dump Xbox in favour of PS and are just looking for an excuse. I used to own a Steam Deck and Steam games work great on Linux. Many older games work better than on Windows, some need some small workarounds, but very few games don’t work at all.

@MrMagic

Yeah, nice tech-doc find/copy.

I'm moving to PS5/6 for a proper console experience next gen, or maybe as soon as Starfield is on PS5, not sure yet.

Anyway, not going to buy another game on Xbox, maybe kinda rip them off (play at their own game) with some refunded monthly game pass subs though.

@gollumb82

Yeah, already decided pretty much because I don't like their attitude re existing customer relations etc. Just need Starfield, my daily driver, on PS5 first.

@TheGiraffe
Fair enough. If you have never owned a PS console (or haven’t owned one in a while) you are in for a treat. I’ve been a PS guy since PS2 and my PS5 is gathering dust. I don’t like how complacent and mum Sony has become, the whole live service focus etc. I’ve also played everything this platform has that interests me. Don’t know what my next platform will be, but I don’r think I’ll be buying it at launch unless it has killer features. Also, kudos for being a Starfield fan. Game gets a lot of hate, but I really like it as well.

@gollumb82

Thanks, That's good to hear. I had a PS1 and PS2, but went PC gamer after that before returning to console in the Xbox One S era because of the low price point of entry (tricked by MS, lol). I could have got a PS4 at that time, but then I would have missed out on Starfield being in the Sony space.

Yeah, Starfield is the only non-cartoony single-player offline open-world space sim game on console where you can do all the 'spaceman things'. I roleplay as UC Vanguard with a little TMD Science sample collection, mostly daily.

@TheGiraffe
I happen to be a huge fan of space sims of all sorts (since Wing Commander times). Starfield is the most complete package for any serious space game fan and I’ve tried most of them, including Star Citizen (which is a fantastic experience, but still too raw for most people). Speaking of Starfield, I’m currently replaying the game on XSX and I’m midway through my favourite Crimson Fleet plotline (thinking of going renegade this time haha).

@TheGiraffe I don't know. I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt and see what they unveil before anyone sharpens a pitchfork. They very may well have thought about this and come up with a decent system.

@Kaloudz

Yeah but I just don't want to spend more money on games in this gen with no idea if next gen will support them or break them or be broken overall at everything. MS has a history of making broken stuff, like Win 8 and Windows Phone and Kinect and Auto Focus desktop webcams...

@gollumb82

Yeah we're tech-bros kinda then. I refunded Star Citizen (I have an unused RTX 4060 mobile like your PS5) because SC was too 'sim' and less 'fun sim', requiring online connect and like 20 mins each session before something fun happens

@TheGiraffe "Yeah but I just don't want to spend more money on games in this gen with no idea if next gen will support them or break them or be broken overall at everything"

If you think about the current heavy push for Play Anywhere, MS already account for multiple delivery methods in what is it now, around 1000 games? So I wouldn't worry on compatability and optimisation

@TheGiraffe
Lol, bros before game woes. But yeah, I had a gaming PC a couple of years ago and liked many things about it (disliked more, though). I did keep my Star Citizen pledge as I also bought Squadron 44. If and when it launches (it won’t) I’m buying a PC again. Just for that. Otherwise, Starfield checks all the boxes for me in this department.

@TheGiraffe Windows Phone. Let's pretend that monstrosity never existed.

It's absolutely right to have concerns, but I think now that they've found their output (an impressive list of first party games at an even more impressive release rate) they'll walk a very tight rope and won't want to screw anything up.

I say let's see what happens but if they can open up more storefronts to the platform, I'm all for it and more. I don't think Xbox is going anywhere (the platform or the hardware) but I do think they're evolving. We will just have to wait and see.

We all need to take a step back and ask ourselves why we are salivating so much over the concept of Steam on consoles.

It’s because Steam is the objectively superior storefront and the client with the best community features, of course. So when Steam does come to Xbox, it’ll just completely dominate. What would Microsoft Store have to offer? Game Pass and that’s literally it. Everything else Steam does better.

Maybe just maybe if Microsoft bothered to improve their storefront and community features to mimic even a fraction of Steam’s power then the appeal of a next generation Xbox wouldn’t be so reliant on support for Steam.

I do think it’s rather sad that all the excitement for the next device is being generated from the fact that it’ll no longer be a console. Microsoft has made the idea of a vanilla Xbox console so unappealing and boring that we’re all going hog wild over the concept of Xbox’s being PCs instead.

Microsoft could’ve taken so many pages from Valve’s book and actually improved Microsoft Store and Xbox community feature over the years, but instead it seems the strategy is to completely capitulate. Now I won’t complain as I’ve already said, Steam is simply better in every way.

I just think there’s something a little tragic about the next device being just a Steam Machine with tacked on Xbox backwards compatibility. Brilliant from my selfish consumer perspective, but it highlights how Microsoft has completely failed to keep pace with Valve’s innovations.

@Coletrain

I don't have faith in MS like you do.

Based on the inability of most modern devs (with modern AAA releases) to programme correctly for current gen full-consoles, I think a hybrid-PC-Xbox will be an unoptimized/unchecked trainwreck, even for MS-first-party-releases.

It's PS time!

@gollumb82

You and me so similar. Oh, If you are OK with PC gaming and online connected games (I'm not), then latest release Elite Dangerous has all the elements Starfield offers in a play session, I think. But the graphics are a little last-gen maybe, if I remember correctly.

@Cakefish

I don't want steam on xbox. That's my whole point, I want a tight gaming experience with all games programmed correctly, checked and re-checked by huge AAA dev teams. Games that work properly day 1 or even day 60. Most currently can't even do that right with fully-locked-down-consoles, not this hybrid-crap.

I can't see them offering access to steam. No one would use the Xbox app and MS would lose their cut of all the games installed, it would be commercial suicide.
You could argue that it would make the hardware more attractive, and I'd certainly agree with that and would buy it myself, but MS want you buying games through their storefront to make money, they are not trying to make money from the hardware...

@TheGiraffe
I don't think you could have had much experience with the MS app on PC?
I've often had problems installing and launching games through MS that work and run fine through Steam. Its one of the reasons Steam has so much support - it just works and offers more and better tools than any other PC launcher or storefront.

If your experiences are not the same, I'd be glad if you'd share them, thanks.

@TheGiraffe it's not necessarily about me having faith in MS, I know that a lot of PC games take a bit of messing to get right coz I do it on my ROG Ally. But if MS don't arrive at next gen with a solution for non-VRR 60hz TVs then it's not really gonna work.

Could mis-step for sure, have done many times, but at the moment it's just a more tantalising prospect than PS6 to me. I would also buy a PS6 if the new MS machine is a train wreck, but I'm more interested in the Xbox offering as it stands!

@Titntin

I'm about games being checked by devs and working properly on fixed-hardware. Storefronts and community pages and install configs etc. are useless to me, and I didn't know people were so into Steam for that, but thanks for enlightening me in that regard, cheers

@Coletrain

What you said "a lot of PC games take a bit of messing to get right" is the exact problem. The Problem. The problem that fixed-hardware solves (or is supposed to). Time is precious, I want to be playing, not 'fixing'. But maybe I'm unusual in this regard and other people are happy to waste lots of time 'fixing' games. For example Mods in Starfield to me is worthless, since vanilla Starfield+Mainline-DLC should have been good and clean and done.

@TheGiraffe
I came really close to buying Elite Dangerous on a few occasions but didn’t for the reasons you mentioned. That and the fact that its planet exploration on foot turned out to be very disappointing (empty, bland worlds, subpar combat and technical issues). I’ve tried No Man’s Sky but it’s too cartoony for my liking.

@TheGiraffe yeah but that's what PC is. When I say the MS offering is tantalising it's on the premise that most games are optimised at driver (or game) level so that you only mess around if you want to.

Obviously with PS6 there's no doubt you'll receive a console only experience out of the box so it definitely makes more sense for your current mindset, and that's cool too. Hopefully we will face-off in some online cross-play games 😁

EDIT: on the ROG (which uses an APU like consoles) there are optimisation settings through each games profile, and I generally don't need to mess about any more than "press one button" unless I'm manually increasing vram. So we're nearly there and that's with a much less powerful device than a console

@TheGiraffe well yeah it’s true that going PC will unfortunately mean getting the downsides of PC too. Shader compilation stutters, traversal stutters, random game crashes etc. It’ll probably work like the Steam Deck currently does where some games will be nicely optimised for the hardware but many others won’t be.

@Titntin it really does seem risky to pin the appeal of next gen so much on Steam support. They either massively reduce the appeal of their own storefront (raising the question of how they actually make money from this device) or they make accessing Steam so inconvenient and laborious that it kinda makes having support for it in the first place effectively redundant.

@OldGamer999 the cost

@gollumb82

Ahhh regarding the Elite Dangerous offering. And boy are we so much alike re our non-cartoony space sims, as I had exactly the same feeling regarding No Mans Sky. Starfield is the sweet spot!, although I'm UC Vanguard not a Crimson Fleet spaceman (unless you're talking undercover agent/infiltration which was cool).

If Steam comes to Xbox I imagine it'll be a Steam-Lite as opposed to a fully fledged version.

@Coletrain

Yeah it sucks because I'm about USD 2K into Xbox hardware + peripherals + games, but still would rather put any additional money into an ecosystem that I have better confidence in

@TheGiraffe that's fair. I imagine a lot of Xbox players are feeling that way right now. Come on Phil, announce something cool

@Coletrain

The smart move for us worried types is to keep XSX-ing until the technical reviews/tests of the next console are out, but in the meantime before next gen, can we really blow multiple hundreds more on premium game sales inside the XB-ecosystem?

@TheGiraffe I'm more inclined to on the basis that if I spent loads in the Sony ecosystem, then I can only play my stuff on a playstation. At least with Xbox a good chunk of what I own now sits on play anywhere, which gives me PC as a future option (although outside of handhelds I'm not super keen on them)

Clarity from Xbox really is gonna be key here!

Can we just play games and wait and see what happens next, we never know what could happen in the future, and i know that we shouldn’t make decisions that we may regret later, i mean if you lost faith in microsoft and you rather switch sides to ps, it’s your choice, just don’t flip flop, and i’m saying it as a person who owns all consoles, and we shouldn’t get too concerned about console sales

also it’s clear that some people minds are set, and since they hate change, it would have to take a miracle to get them to give xbox chance

@MrMagic
i respectfully disagree, and i’m sure you’ll admit your wrong if it doesn’t happen like you thought it would?

@OldGamer999 also you don’t want to sound so sure, because you might look stupid if you turn out your answer was wrong

@TheGiraffe I’m sure Microsoft isn’t doing this on purpose, it’s just the media wanting to bash xbox, because you notice they rarely say bad things about playstation

@donv2135

The reason Microsoft are in the headlines quite a bit at the moment is pretty obvious. After a few decades of Xbox their entire business strategy around gaming and Xbox is changing.

I know you want to believe that there is some kind of media bias, but there really isn't it. That's just how you're choosing to read it. If it were the other way around it would be Sony and PlayStation in the limelight.

@HonestHick Yes, with their weird PC handheld.

There's no way a closed box console could ever have Steam because consoles are subsidized to us at a loss to the maker. A Series X would have cost us $800 if not subsidized.

They lose money on hardware to make money on their own store through software sales, microtransactions and subscriptions to play online and things like Game Pass.

IF you can just buy Steam games or skip paying to play online, how does MS make anything?

@TheGameThrifter I'd say most people who will buy this hybrid next gen Xbox are more likely using Xbox services already like Games Pass or have games via the Xbox store. As these would be it's likely selling features like the current X/S consoles now. But I wouldn't be surprised if you have to download Steam via the Xbox store on Microsoft's Xbox. While 3rd party OEMs may have more freedom like it's already preloaded.

Even if they don't & they rely solely on Steam as they want a cheap under the TV like PC console. Microsoft already sell their games & get 70% cut. It also could offer a Games Pass model via Steam if a deal is done with Valve.

Also Xbox is now an eco system. So if the largest majority of revenue comes from the Xbox store & Games Pass via cloud gaming on any Internet & Bluetooth enabled device. Then that would subsidize the loss of revenue that Steam could deal on an Xbox console.

@Titntin if the next gen hybrid Xbox is digital only. Then they will have to open up to competition like Steam. As it could breach anti consumer laws like the EU's Digital Markets Act. Microsoft like Amazon, Apple & Google have all had to change. Or face loosing 10% of global income.

@TheGameThrifter i am more than aware how consoles make money and lose money. So on that part you are right, heck on all accounts everything you said is correct. But Xbox has been losing massive amounts of players on Xbox gen to gen after 360. If they don’t nail a PC/Console box correctly and it tanks, they are likely out of the hardware game. This is their moment to change for the good or drive a nail in their coffin. Let me give you my insight to it via countless videos and people I trust on the matter.

Xbox is treating this next Xbox MORE like a PC but with plug and play easy to use console features. So right out the gate, it’s not playing by older console rules. Meaning it will be sold for a profit or break even, no more taking a lose as we have even seen with PS this gen. That leads to the elephant in the room STEAM. Steam is the more attractive marketplace to move units, but i believe MS will surrender its shrinking Xbox games store and go all in on Gamepass alongside steam. Now thats not to say you won’t be able to buy games like we do today from Xbox. Here is where none of us know anything, Phil said Steam is our neighbors, they are just up the street from us in an interview. Surely they are having talks. We know Steam wants to keep it’s growth momentum it’s been seeing going, what better way than to cut a deal with MS for 80/20 take and leverage steam and GP as the marketing reasons for choosing this device? Look i ain’t saying that is or isn’t the case. But when you are down to one bullet left to shot for life or death, you go all in on that last shoot. This is Phil’s last chance to put Xbox back in the game. No cards should be left on the table. After all in less than 20 years PC and Cloud will be the last two standing!

@HonestHick

I do think you're right that this is make or break for MS in the console hardware business.

@HonestHick The problem is, who's it for? PC gamers like to upgrade and tinker, and console owners like plug and play with no hassles.
PC games tend to be unoptimized, while console games are optimized specifically for that hardware. It's why I'm a console gamer.

If Microsoft isn't subsidizing their next console, it'll be $800 or more, and no one will buy it either way. My personal thought was they should have stuck it out and made their next console a beast and had great exclusive games. Let Activision fund your Xbox console exclusives. They never really gave that a chance, Series X/S never had a solid year of exclusive titles outside the end of 2021, which saw the best sales ever for Xbox (Halo Infinite, Flight Sim, Forza Horizon 5 all released)

@TheGameThrifter yeah i am with you that i would have liked to see them earn customers back with great exclusive games. The problem is no one is leaving thier digital PS consoles behind to jump to Xbox, or their friends list etc etc. sure 2021 seemed like a good year cause the people that wanted Xbox’s didn’t have them yet. But once they hit over 25 million in sales it has come to a crawl in hardware sales. Showing MS they can’t grow the install base high enough to support exclusive titles. Plus they been supporting PC for a long time now. So they are going to blend that business some here and make development easier on their teams. Cause now all MS studio teams have to do is make a game for windows PC in mind and it run’s across all platforms outside of Switch and PS and yes i do expect the next Xbox to be around $700-$800 as it will be a mid range PC. So Sales will shrink even more. It’s all sad to me. I’ve been with Xbox since OG and it’s always been my favorite place to game. But it’s all going to change hardware wise next gen with them not meeting enough sales. I see and understand your thoughts and concerns, i have mine as well. Until we know more this is the best we can do is follow the bread crumb of info on the software and hardware and see what happens.