Xbox chief Phil Spencer has confirmed that xCloud, Xbox’s game streaming service, works on Valve’s Steam Deck.
Spencer took to Twitter to sing the praises of the upcoming portable device, and he said that he’s been at Valve “this week talking with Scott, Erik, [and] Gabe about Steam Deck.”
“After having mine most of the week I can say it’s a really nice device. Games with me on the go, screen size, controls all great. Playing Halo and Age feels good, xCloud works well. Congrats SD team,” Spencer added.
Was @valvesoftware this week talking w/ Scott, Erik, Gabe about Steam Deck. After having mine most of the week I can say it’s a really nice device. Games with me on the go, screen size, controls all great. Playing Halo and Age feels good, xCloud works well. Congrats SD team. pic.twitter.com/q4hWBvkk85
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) August 13, 2021
There is currently no proper confirmation that xCloud either runs through a browser or native app on the Steam Deck, but Spencer seems to have at least made it clear that the service will be made available on the device.
Xbox Cloud Gaming – informally known as xCloud – is currently available on iPhones, iPads, and Windows Devices, according to an Xbox insiders post. To stream games using the cloud, players need an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, one of the compatible devices, a compatible controller, and high-speed internet.
Reservations for the Steam Deck are currently up and running but they aren’t expected to be available until Q2 2022, according to Valve. Signing up for a reservation right now means you’ll be put in a virtual queue and sent an email when more stock is available.
In related news, Spencer was recently asked if he thought Game Pass would come to other consoles. He said that Xbox is “totally open to those discussions,” but the company understands that other closed platforms don’t want “something like Game Pass” right now.
