One of the big selling points about the Steam Deck is that it's not just a Switch-like portable gaming device; it's a fully-working PC, at least that's how its developer has been marketing it. With Valve recently launching some Windows 10 drivers for its machine, although there are teething problems at the moment, it seems the company is adamant that gamers can use the mobile system as they would a regular home PC. On top of that, the world of gaming has opened up even more as it's just been made public that Xbox gaming is now compatible with it.According to a number of sources, it's now possible to use the Steam Deck alongside the Microsoft cloud-based service. An official post on Reddit says that Valve and Xbox have been working together to allow owners of the device to play games through Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Game Pass. Some instructions on the Microsoft support page show that, through the Edge browser, it's possible to launch either of the services through a series of command rules and property settings.While last year, Phil Spencer of Xbox said that the Steam Deck should be able to support cloud gaming, now it seems as though it's become official. At a cursory glance, it looks like a slightly long-winded way of going about getting Game Pass and Cloud Gaming on the device, but the fact that it's coming from Microsoft itself, in conjunction with Valve, shows that this is an officially acknowledged method of getting even more games on the Deck.
The Steam Deck is constantly having games verified for it, with more than 1,200 titles now compatible, at the time of writing. The fact that gamers will be able to access their Game Pass and use Xbox Cloud Gaming means that the newly released handheld PC is proving to be one of the most versatile gaming systems in the mobile market.
As mentioned above, while it's possible to install another operating system on the device, tests have shown that Windows 10 on the Deck causes game performance issues. Of course, it's still early days for Valve's system, so there will likely be some updates coming which will fix any issues. However, the fact that it's now possible, from an official standpoint, to use Xbox services on the Steam Deck will likely be a very appealing selling point, especially for anyone who's been on the fence about whether to get one or not.
Source: Reddit, Microsoft Support