Game Pass On Steam? Valve Is Open To Working With Microsoft To Make It Happen
Is a Steam subscription service in the works? It was recently revealed that Valve does not plan on developing its own personal subscription service. However, it was noted that Valve would be willing to work with Microsoft to add Game Pass games to Steam.
Wes Fenlon of PC Gamer asked Gabe Newell, President of Valve, straight up whether Valve was planning on either creating its own subscription service or adding Game Pass games onto Steam. Newell responded, “I don't think it's something that we think we need to do ourselves, building a subscription service at this time. But for their customers it's clearly a popular option, and we'd be more than happy to work with them to get that on Steam.”
Newell’s comment aligns with a previous one he made this past summer. He argued, “Our view is that the openness of the PC ecosystem is the superpower that we all collectively benefit from.” He further criticized the closed platforms of Valve’s competitors.
For better or for worse, Valve will not release a home-brewed Steam subscription service any time soon. However, it appears that it would be open to getting Game Pass games on its platform. This would likely be a similar arrangement to what it has with EA. EA Play is a subscription-based video game service that offers select games from EA. It is currently available on the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Microsoft Windows platforms and launched on Steam in August 2020. It appears to be a win-win situation for both Valve and EA.
Newell’s comment comes just a few days after Bethesda announced that it is shutting down the Bethesda.net Launcher. The Bethesda.net Launcher was released in 2016 and allowed players to launch and play Bethesda games straight from the platform. The launcher officially shuts down in May, but starting “in early April, you will be able to migrate your Bethesda.net library to your Steam account.” Valve further noted that users will only be able to transfer their library to PC and not to their Playstation or Xbox device.
Images courtesy of Valve
Wes Fenlon of PC Gamer asked Gabe Newell, President of Valve, straight up whether Valve was planning on either creating its own subscription service or adding Game Pass games onto Steam. Newell responded, “I don't think it's something that we think we need to do ourselves, building a subscription service at this time. But for their customers it's clearly a popular option, and we'd be more than happy to work with them to get that on Steam.”
Newell’s comment aligns with a previous one he made this past summer. He argued, “Our view is that the openness of the PC ecosystem is the superpower that we all collectively benefit from.” He further criticized the closed platforms of Valve’s competitors.
Newell’s comment comes just a few days after Bethesda announced that it is shutting down the Bethesda.net Launcher. The Bethesda.net Launcher was released in 2016 and allowed players to launch and play Bethesda games straight from the platform. The launcher officially shuts down in May, but starting “in early April, you will be able to migrate your Bethesda.net library to your Steam account.” Valve further noted that users will only be able to transfer their library to PC and not to their Playstation or Xbox device.
Images courtesy of Valve
