Valve isn’t making its own Steam Pass, but ‘more than happy’ to help bring Game Pass to Steam

Microsoft’s Game Pass is likely one of the most subscribed-to game services in history, with millions of players across Xbox and PC. Well, the main problem with Game Pass on PC is that it requires use of the Xbox app and Microsoft Store, two things that most gamers likely don’t visit often. However, that could change with Gabe Newell’s latest statement, so let’s break down whether or not we could see Game Pass on Steam in the future.

Gabe Newell is open to the idea of Game Pass on Steam

In an interview with PC Gamer, Gabe Newell, the president of Valve, was asked whether the company was planning on launching its own Steam subscription service, ala Steam Pass. While Gabe said that Valve wasn’t interested in making their own, he did allude to the thought of Microsoft’s Game Pass on Steam, even going as far as to say that “we’d be more than happy to work with them to get that on Steam” when talking about Game Pass.

However, this isn’t entirely Gabe’s decision to make. Sure, EA Play is now on Steam, and EA Play is included with Game Pass, but ultimately, Microsoft will have to play ball here. I could see that happening, though, and let me explain why.

Microsoft is getting into the services business. While they might not be selling nearly as many Xbox consoles as Sony is PlayStation, the company is consistently growing in Game Pass numbers. Microsoft has shown that they want to offer services to their customers, especially since you can play next-generation games like Flight Simulator on the original Xbox hardware through Xbox Cloud Gaming. This, with the fact that Microsoft has stopped production of previous-generation consoles, shows that the company is focusing on software sales as much as they can, as that’s where the real money lies, since Microsoft generally loses money on Xbox sales to begin with.

All of this points to Microsoft trying to make their games available on as many platforms as they can, even if your hardware isn’t up to snuff to run the latest and greatest. With all that said, I could see Microsoft partnering with Valve on offering Game Pass through the service, especially given that even Bethesda is dropping its own launcher in favor of Steam. Only time will tell what actually lies ahead for Microsoft’s subscription service though.

9to5Toys’ Take

I would absolutely love to see Game Pass come to Steam. Sure, this is just Gabe Newell’s desire for now, but it’s something that I could see Microsoft jumping on board for. While they might have to give up a percentage of their subscription to Valve to sell on Steam, I think they would gain a lot more players by offering that as a choice.

I don’t see this happening any time soon, though, not with the Activision acquisition on the horizon. But, once that’s taken care of, Game Pass on Steam could be something we watch for, especially with Microsoft’s love of the just-launched Steam Deck.

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