Microsoft seems intent on tearing down the norms of game-industry competition between platforms. Not content with publishing precious first-party games on rival consoles, it now looks as though Xbox is ready to link arms with the leading PC gaming platform, Steam.
The Verge reports that Microsoft briefly published an image on Thursday depicting a new, cross-device user interface for Xbox. A filter for “Steam” is clearly visible in the view of a user’s game library shown in the image.
The image was published in a blog titled “Opening a Billion Doors with Xbox” about Microsoft’s current platform-agnostic strategy. (Sample quote: “Our goal is simple: to make every screen in the world an Xbox.”) The image was apparently quickly removed by Microsoft after The Verge inquired about it.
The publication of the image seems to have been a mistake. Does it really indicate that Steam integration is coming to Xbox? And, in a world where every screen is an Xbox, what does that mean exactly?
It’s certainly not outlandish that Microsoft might seek to make users’ Steam libraries visible within the Xbox PC app in this way. The Verge’s sources said that Microsoft plans to make every game installed on a PC visible within the Xbox app, and other PC game launchers, like GOG, do this.
But there’s also a real chance that Microsoft is thinking of expanding Steam integration beyond desktop PCs. The image shows the new Xbox UI running on multiple devices: a laptop, a phone, a tablet, and an Asus ROG Ally handheld, as well as a TV. Xbox consoles are also pictured. This is consistent with Microsoft’s announced strategy to combine Windows and Xbox experiences in a new, unified UI that will reportedly feature on an Xbox-branded PC handheld from a partner manufacturer as early as this year.
Could Steam integration come to future Xbox consoles as well as desktop and handheld PCs? It’s far from fanciful to suggest it. Xbox chief Phil Spencer told viraltrendingcontent last year that he thinks console platforms should be more open, like PCs, and that he’s open to putting rival storefronts like the Epic Games Store — or, it follows, Steam — on Xbox consoles.
Windows Central refers to persistent rumors of a partnership between Microsoft and Valve to put Steam on the next generation of Xbox consoles — rumors that viraltrendingcontent has also heard (but not verified). The next-gen Xbox consoles — a dedicated handheld, and a successor to the Xbox Series X — are said to be more PC-like devices, running on a Windows-based development environment.
Considering all that, it’s surprisingly easy to picture Steam as an integral part of Xbox in future. This latest image is likely a mock-up, and its publication was surely an unintended slip. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a sign of things to come.
