cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/10815291
Phil Spencer discusses potential Xbox handheld plans
Microsoft… always two steps behind. They always just wait for someone else to demonstrate a successful idea, and then use their deep pockets to buy a piece of the pie.
If anything, I see this as Microsoft trying to kill what the Steam Deck can become.
Right now, the Steam Deck is one of the best selling Linux computers. You are also starting to see other manufacturers look at the Steam Deck and compete against it in hardware while using Valve’s free software. From that, it isn’t much of a jump to putting Valve’s Linux stack in desktops and laptops.
Refusing to bring gamepass to Linux but are fine with making an entirely new handheld. Real classy Microsoft.
Reading through the article he actually seems to indicate the opposite. He actually specifically mentions how he’s frustrated when trying to use windows handhelds because of windows things and that he needs to take ownership over those issues. And he talks about bringing Xbox games (seemingly implying gamepass) to other devices. The phrase “every screen is an Xbox” came up. He also mentioned that they mocked up a windows gaming handheld at some point but nothing came to fruition.
Seems like, at least from what he said here, that they are at least looking into bring gamepass to steam deck.
Of course saying something and actually doing something are two entirely different things so we’ll see I guess. I’m not holding my breath.
I didn’t get that impression at all, to me it sounds like he doesn’t like the windows experience on handhelds and thus wants to drastically improve the experience.
They’ve been using the phrase “every screen is an Xbox” for years, as has their efforts to bring gamepass to every device they can. This isn’t new, this has been the case since before the Deck even released. Yet despite that, and despite Valve’s vocal approval, Microsoft has yet to release any form of gamepass on Linux, unless it’s cloud based ofc.
So to me, from what he said, it sounds like nothing has changed. Their goals remain the exact same that they’ve been for years, only now they want to improve the Windows experience on handhelds.
Hoping I missed something, but that really seems to be what’s happening here.
Edit: And in their “defense”, it’s not an incomprehensible decision. For pretty much the entirety of pc gaming’s existence, Microsoft has been the sole option. Sure, technically you could game on a Mac, or on Linux, but neither were viable. So 99% of pc gamers ended up on Windows. It’s only recently that Proton has had such massive improvements and made Linux more viable, and I’m sure Microsoft isn’t thrilled about that. No way they’d want to add even more to that viability.