If you’ve got a mountain of Steam games to play but somehow just not enough ways and screens to play them on, you may be in luck if you also have an Xbox in the future.
The latest and greatest form of Steam integration, heard through Insider Gaming, could be your Steam library playable on an Xbox console near you some day soon. And this potential leak may have come from Xbox itself.
A new Xbox UI mockup from a blog post penned by Xbox’s VP of global partnerships, Leo Olebe, included a very specific one-word platform that also shares the name with what you get what you heat water into vapor.
That’s right, plopped right in between “Game Pass” and “Owned” in the concept image is Steam, the PC gaming juggernaut. The blog post has since removed the image, but not before it was nabbed by concerned parties the world over.
“The gaming industry continues to evolve, presenting exciting opportunities across numerous fronts. According to a much-cited report by entrepreneur and industry watcher Matthew Ball, PC gaming alone has grown 20% since 2021,” Olebe said, which certainly lends some credence to the idea behind the mockup image. “We’re also witnessing significant traction in emerging playstyles, such as handheld devices and streaming platforms. Cloud gaming, in particular, has expanded rapidly, allowing us to reach players across a variety of screens and devices.”
This revelation also piggybacks off of recent news that Xbox is working on a PC gaming handheld of its own, which could potentially bring together your gaming libraries across Xbox, Steam, and possibly even more all onto one device.
With the next Xbox reportedly set to come out in 2027, we could be on the verge of the end of platforms altogether and a global system where every game you own (digitally, at least) will be found in the same place.
Along with Xbox letting many of its exclusive games go to other platforms like PS5 and Nintendo Switch, it seems like the company truly is looking to enable gamers to play games anywhere on any device at any time, including potentially your Steam games with your Xbox.
“As we look toward 2025 and beyond, Xbox remains dedicated to expanding gaming accessibility across devices, simplifying development workflows for creators, and delivering seamless experiences across all screens,” Olebe said. “Our goal remains consistent—to ensure gamers can engage with the content they love, exactly how and where they choose. We’re aiming for a billion open doors leading to a truly global audience.”
The image, of course, could just be a placeholder with no real reasoning behind Steam being on there, but that also seems kind of fishy. Either way, this next generation sure sounds like it will be a very interesting one.
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