Valve‘s newly announced handheld, Steam Deck, has already been generating interest in the industry, and that includes Ubisoft who may be considering putting its games back on Steam.
The publisher had previously pivoted away from the PC platform, instead partnering with the Epic Games Store, while also running its own digital storefront.
However, as reported in IGN, an investors call yesterday (July 20) with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot hinted that the Steam Deck might persuade the company to release its future games on Steam again.
“We’re happy to see Steam Deck coming to the industry, it shows that it continues a flow of very innovative new hardware coming to the market,” he said.
“So we will look and see how big it becomes, but if it’s big we will be able to put our games on it.”
While Guillemot is specifically referring to Steam Deck, the handheld is designed to be able to access a player’s complete Steam library, so it would simply mean that future Ubisoft games could return to the platform.
Regardless of the Steam Deck’s success however, users would already be able to access Ubisoft games on the handheld, such as existing Ubisoft titles on Steam.
The system will allow users to install Windows and could therefore allow them to install third party launchers such as Epic Games Store or Ubisoft Connect. Nonetheless, a return to Steam would benefit the publisher’s visibility, especially for newcomers to PC gaming.
Earlier this week, Ubisoft announced Tom Clancy’s XDefiant, a new free-to-play multiplayer shooter set in the Tom Clancy universe.
The publisher however also confirmed delays for Riders Republic and Rainbow Six Extraction, which will now arrive in October and January 2022 respectively.
