Could PS5 and Xbox Series X owners soon enjoy Steam? At least the head of Steam hints at something hopeful.
Steam is arguably the best software and gaming platform that many PC gamers can imagine. It’s no wonder that console gamers are a bit envious. But now there is a glimmer of hope that Valve and Steam may focus more on consoles. At least that’s what the Valve head hinted at in an interview.
Who is speaking? That’s Gabe Newell, the head of Valve. Valve has developed and published several games itself (such as Half-Life) but is primarily known for the Steam platform. It offers the largest digital distribution platform for games on PC, integrated with forums, community hubs, mods, friends lists, and pretty much everything a PC gamer desires.
What was said? Gabe Newell was asked whether Steam is expanding to consoles or if there are plans in that direction. Instead of simply denying or brushing off the topic, Newell responds with a hopeful sentence:
You will have a better idea by the end of the year.
The audience reacts with excited “Ohhh” sounds, and the rest becomes even harder to understand.
However, that has already been enough to ignite wild discussions and speculation about what it could mean.
What is clear is that Steam likely wants to address something in connection with the major consoles by the end of the year. Whether it concerns the PS5, the Xbox Series X, or even both is still open.
This seems unlikely: At this point, it appears rather unlikely that Steam in its PC form will also come to current consoles, effectively opening a parallel shop to the PS and Microsoft Store on their consoles.
Even though many gamers would welcome something like this, it’s better to temper expectations here. A large part of the games on Steam is not optimized for consoles at all and could not be played without issues. Only a fraction of the games would work this way.
What players suspect: In the comments under the video, there is much discussion and speculation about what might really be happening. One of the most common theories is that Steam could offer an app for the Xbox (and possibly PlayStation) to play games remotely on the TV.
Other speculations suggest that the Xbox Game Pass should appear on Steam. This has been rumored for several weeks and could suggest a cooperation between Microsoft and Valve. However, it would likely be Xbox owners who would benefit from a potential partnership, while Sony fans might be left out.
Finally, some comments suggest that Sony is “fairly obviously” trying to win games like Half-Life: Alyx for PlayStation VR. But ultimately, that’s just speculation as well.
What exactly Gabe Newell was hinting at, we will probably only find out at the end of the year. Perhaps there will be a nice surprise for all console owners.
