While players were previously able to access Xbox Cloud Gaming on their Steam Decks, they were unable to use the handheld controls to play games. That functionality support has now been added to the handheld.
According to an announcement made on Reddit on the weekend, Microsoft and Valve have worked together to release a beta version of Microsoft Edge on Steam Deck that features full support for Xbox Cloud Gaming and by extension, full support for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as well.
“We’re particularly excited about this ourselves as we feel it can open new opportunities in the Linux gaming community,” said Microsoft Edge community manager Missy Quarry. “Know that this is just the beginning of the story for gaming on Edge.”
We worked closely with our friends at Valve to support #Xcloud #XboxGamePass through Microsoft Edge for the Steam Deck. https://t.co/NIuHCJtXMR pic.twitter.com/Jr4JPQSbFC
— Catherine Gluckstein (@CJGluckstein) March 18, 2022
Take note that a number of first-party Xbox Game Studios titles such as Psychonauts 2, Deathloop, Quantum Break, Sea of Thieves, and more run natively on Steam Deck. However, since Xbox Game Pass is not available on Steam, the only way subscribers can make use of their Xbox game streaming services is by streaming the games on the handheld through Microsoft Edge.
The complete list of verified Xbox games on Steam Deck can be browsed here. Games like Gears 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo Infinite, and Microsoft Flight Simulator X will not be supported on the handheld because of anti-cheat concerns.
Elsewhere, Microsoft Flight Simulator head Jorg Neumann confirmed last week that “platform-level support” for mouse and keyboard will be coming to Xbox Cloud Gaming somewhere down the road. The added peripheral support will allow Microsoft to add a whole new genre of games to its cloud service such as the new Age of Empires 4.
