While most of us wait patiently to finally get our hands on Steam Deck, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has already had some good time with the new handheld. He reacted to his experience by saying “it’s a really nice device.”
Spencer shared his impressions after almost a week of using Steam Deck on Twitter, where he mentioned his visit to Valve and conversation with Gabe Newell about the new PC/console hybrid. While he didn’t go deep into the details, Spencer believes the Deck will win the audience, as playing games such as Halo or Age of Empires on the go “feels good.”
Spencer posted a picture of his Steam Deck with Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Forza Horizon 4, Gears Tactics, and both Half-Life games installed. Xbox head spoke high about handheld screen size and controls, but most importantly, he added that “xCloud works well.” Therefore, Spencer seemingly confirmed that the Steam Deck can run Microsoft games through the xCloud streaming service.
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This probably means players will be able to use Steam Deck not only for their Steam or Epic Games Store games library but for the Microsoft exclusives found in xCloud. As such, it’ll be possible to take your favorite Xbox games on the go, too. As of now, Spencer’s words shouldn’t be considered as an official cross-promotion, yet it’s certainly a promising thing.
While Microsoft is surely interested in getting xCloud and Xbox Game Pass beyond PC and console, just recently Spencer debunks rumors that Xbox Game Pass will be coming to the Nintendo Switch. “We have no plans to bring it to any other kind of closed platforms right now, mainly because those closed platforms don’t want something like Game Pass,” he said. Luckily, things are different with open Steam Deck.
Earlier some other major industry players spoke highly of Valve’s handheld device too. One of them is Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, who reacted to Steam Deck as soon as the new console was unveiled. Back then, Sweeney said this PC/console hybrid is simply “an amazing move by Valve,” especially since it’s allowing the users “to install software of their choosing.” As such, Epic will get a new platform to grow on.
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