Valve Willing To Work With Microsoft On Bringing Game Pass To Steam

Steam might some day offer its users access to Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription service, reports PC Gamer. 

Gabe Newell - the co-founder of Valve, the company behind the PC distribution platform in question - spoke to PC Gamer for a feature on its new Steam Deck, the handheld hoping to take PC games (and the Steam library) away from the desktop and on the move. He was asked if Valve might consider its own subscription service like Game Pass, to which Newell replied:

“I don't think it's something that we think we need to do ourselves, building a subscription service at this time. But for [Game Pass] customers it's clearly a popular option, and we'd be more than happy to work with them to get that on Steam." 

If the Steam Deck totally passed you by, here’s a handy video…

Newell then added: “If your customers want it, then you should figure out how to make it happen. That's where we're at.” By your customers, he means their customers, obviously. Which is to say: Steam users, if you’d like to see Game Pass on Steam, you should ask for it, more and more.

Reviews of the Steam Deck - which was officially released on February 25 2022 - have been largely positive, not that anyone at GAMINGbible has seen one of them with their own eyes yet, let alone tested one. (Valve, seriously, c’mon… a monthly audience of way over 50 million gamers isn’t enough for you? Sheesh.) 

Xbox’s Phil Spencer is amongst the prominent industry figures to lavish the console-like device with praise, congratulating Valve “on getting so many of us excited to be able to take our games with us wherever we decide to play”. I mean, some of us had (and still have) Game Boys, but I get what he’s saying. It was kinda hard to play Elden Ring on a handheld before the Steam Deck - and now, you can. (Not that you should, necessarily - it’s a bit like playing The Witcher 3 on a Switch, and I know how some of you feel about that.)

So Gabe’s into Game Pass, Phil’s into the Steam Deck… what’s stopping you guys just, like, doing it already? G’wan. Have at each other.