Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

How to get Xbox Game Pass on Steam Deck

Tyler Lacoma
By

The Steam Deck easily grants access to your library of Steam titles, and can handle all but the most demanding games — but sometimes that’s just not enough. Enter Xbox Game Pass, the subscription service packed with games offered by Microsoft, most of which are available to play on both Xbox and PC.

Related Videos

Difficulty

Moderate

Duration

30 minutes

What You Need

  • Steam Deck

  • Xbox Game Pass subscription

That compatibility also means that there’s a way you can play the latest hits on Game Pass like Halo Infinite or the upcoming Starfield on your Steam Deck, wherever you're at. All it takes is the right setup. We’ll show you exactly what you need and what to do.

How to enable Xbox Game Pass games on your Steam Deck

While it may be obvious, please remember that you need to be signed up for Steam and have an active Xbox Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate subscription for these steps to work.

Step 1: This is a lot easier when you have the time to hook your Steam Deck to a mouse and keyboard before you begin. We recommend sitting at your desktop to make this step effortless.

Step 2: With your Steam Deck turned on, press the central Steam button. When the menu opens, select Power, then choose Switch to desktop. This will switch to a desktop Linux mode that allows for more direct control over a wide variety of settings (you don’t need to connect the Deck to an actual desktop monitor for this to work).

Steam Deck Desktop Mode Example.
Related

Step 3: Look at the taskbar on the button and select the icon that looks like a blue shopping bag. This will open the Discover Software Center. In the Software Center, find the three-line “hamburger” button and select it, then choose Applications, then go to the Internet section, then find Web Browsers.

Step 4: In the list of available web browsers, look for Microsoft Edge (it’s currently in a beta version on the Deck, but don’t let that stop you). Select or right-click it and choose to Install.

Step 5: Now return to the Steam desktop. Choose the Application Launcher from the taskbar this time. Select Internet, then find Microsoft Edge (beta). Right-click it, and choose Add to Steam. Now in the Add a Game window, locate Microsoft Edge once again, and choose the Add Selected Programs button at the bottom.

Steam Deck settings page.

Step 6: Go back to the desktop and choose Application Launch again. This time, choose System, and then choose Konsole to open the terminal window. It’s time to type some commands! Enter this command and press the Enter key afterward:

flatpak --user override --filesystem=/run/udev:ro com.microsoft.Edge

To leave the Konsole, type "exit" and select the Enter key.

Step 7: Back in the desktop, select the Steam icon to open up Steam. Go to your Library, then find Microsoft Edge (beta) here. Right-click it, and choose Properties. You’re going to make a couple of important changes here.

First, select the name Microsoft Edge next to its icon, and change it to Xbox Cloud Gaming. You may want to add a (beta) at the end to remember that this is still a work in progress, although the Edge icon has a beta label of its own to help.

Go to Launch Options, where you’ll see a command line. You will want keep the section that says “e @@u @” but replace everything that comes after it with a new command:

--window-size=1024,640 --force-device-scale-factor=1.25 --device-scale-factor=1.25 --kiosk "https://www.xbox.com/play"

This essentially turns Edge into Xbox Cloud Gaming, a somewhat messy workaround that Microsoft is planning to improve in the future, but it will work for now. Just remember that the Edge icon is actually your Xbox games access. Technically, you can switch out the icon for another image, but it’s a lot of work for a feature that will hopefully be replaced at some point in the future, so we’re fine with leaving it.

Steam settings page.

Step 8: You can also choose to manage the controller layout of your new Xbox Cloud Gaming app in your Steam Library, so make sure you set it to a layout you like to play Xbox games with by right-clicking, then choosing Manage and Controller layout.

Step 9: That should be it! Switch back to your Gaming Mode, and you should be able to select the Xbox Cloud Gaming icon and sign in with your Microsoft account to get started.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
How to connect your Nintendo Switch to a TV

The Nintendo Switch has quickly become a household item. The system works as both a handheld device and a TV console, making it both versatile and convenient for players to use. Although using the Switch in its handheld form is awesome, the reality is that the graphics on a TV can enhance the experience of any Switch player. For those of us that struggle to put systems together, there is hope. Fortunately for us, the Switch is actually pretty easy to hook up to any TV, so long as it has an HDMI slot. Here's how.
Setting up the Nintendo Switch

For those who are new to the system, every purchase of the Nintendo Switch not only includes the Switch itself but also a Switch dock. This dock will be key in putting your system together for the TV. The first thing you're going to want to do is take out the dock and all the cords. Make sure that you have the dock, an HDMI cord, and a power cord for the system. If all three are present, you're good to start!

Read more
This Alienware gaming laptop with 64GB RAM, RTX 3080 Ti is $1350 off
God of War running on the Alienware x17 R2 laptop.

For the best possible gaming experience on a laptop, you should be ready to shell out a significant sum for a machine such as the Alienware x17 R2. You'll get $1,350 in savings if you purchase the gaming laptop from Dell, which is selling it for $3,200 instead of its original price of $4,550. It's still not cheap by any means, but we'll still consider it a steal for this price because of the power it packs in its portable body.

Why you should buy the Alienware x17 R2 gaming laptop
Our laptop buying guide says gaming laptops should be built to keep up with the requirements of today's video games. The Alienware x17 R2 takes things further, as it's also prepared to run titles that are still on their way with its 12th-generation Intel Core i9 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card. It's even got 64GB of RAM, when our guide on how much RAM do you need only recommends 32GB of RAM if you're planning to run multiple apps in the background while you're playing. With the Alienware x17 R2, not only will you be able to select the highest settings of the best PC games, but you also won't have to worry about making upgrades for years to come.

Read more
Dell’s latest sale drops the price of this gaming laptop to just $650
dell laptop flash sale deal february 2023 g 15

If you've been planning to buy a gaming laptop but you don't have much cash to spare, you'll want to check out Dell's latest sale. It includes a $200 discount on the Dell G15, which brings its price down to a more affordable $650 from its original price of $850. Like most gaming laptop deals, we're not expecting this one to last long, so if you want to take advantage of it, lock it in now or risk dissapointment.

Why you should buy the Dell G15 gaming laptop
A gaming laptop should be able to keep up with the increasing requirements of modern video games, according to our laptop buying guide. The Dell G15 is capable of doing so with its 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card. It's got 8GB of RAM that's acceptable for casual gaming, and which our guide on how much RAM do you need says is a starting point for laptops. However, to make the most out of this machine, it's highly recommended that you save up for an upgrade to 16GB of RAM as soon as you can.

Read more