I play most of my games on an Xbox plugged into a 65-inch OLED TV in the living room. Despite this comfy setup, I caved and finally bought a Steam Deck in late 2024, and I’m so happy that I’ve started padding my neglected Steam library once again.
As an “Xbox first” gamer and long-term Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, I’m a prime target for Microsoft’s rumored Xbox handheld. As someone who has been thoroughly impressed with the Steam Deck, Microsoft has a few big boxes to check if it wants to tempt me away.
6
Be Compatible With the Latest Games
The Steam Deck is a fantastic bit of kit, but it’s getting old. The AMD-powered handheld is based on Zen2 architecture, which first debuted in 2019 and powers the current generation of Xbox and PlayStation consoles. It’s certainly no slouch, but it’s clearly starting to show its age—particularly Valve’s implementation, which has strict power constraints on account of being portable.
When the Steam Deck was released back in late 2022, the handheld could keep up with many of the latest releases including demanding titles like Elden Ring and Red Dead Redemption 2 (albeit at lower frame rates than many PC gamers are used to). Fast-forward two-and-a-bit years and that’s no longer the case.
Games like Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Star Wars Outlaws run like slideshows on the Steam Deck. Though many dedicated RPG fans insist that Baldur’s Gate 3 is Steam Deck compatible, the game struggles to hit 20FPS in the third act thanks to its underwhelming CPU performance. Dragon’s Dogma II is another title that’s considered unplayable on the Steam Deck due being so heavy on the CPU.
An Xbox handheld should be an Xbox first, which means it should target Xbox games. Despite its waning popularity, the Xbox is still a dominant platform that sees the very latest releases. An Xbox handheld that can play new games on release day (albeit with a few Xbox Series S-style concessions) would put it head and shoulders above the Steam Deck in the hardware race.
5
Avoid the Linux Anti-Cheat Problems
While PC gamers might balk at the idea of playing competitive first-person shooters with a controller rather than a keyboard and mouse, console games aren’t so fussy. Many Steam Deck owners have found themselves left out in the cold entirely when it comes to multiplayer gaming, a result of the platform’s underlying Linux architecture.
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Microsoft has two options with an Xbox handheld: create a portable-optimized version of the existing Xbox operating system or ship it with Windows and deal with the interface separately. Both solutions would solve one of the Steam Deck’s biggest gripes: not being able to play games like Call of Duty due to anti-cheat requirements.
It’s not just Activision’s flagship that doesn’t work. Games like Valorant, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, and Epic’s behemoth Fortnite are all incompatible with the Steam Deck. The only way to play this way is to stream the game from your PC, Xbox, or PlayStation.
This should be an easy win for Microsoft. If the handheld runs a modified Xbox OS, the Xbox version of those games should work. If it runs Windows, then the same is true but for the Windows port. Of course, the latter raises some concerning issues surrounding the nature of kernel-level anti-cheat on a portable.
4
Deliver a User-Friendly Interface
If there’s one thing the Steam Deck nails, for the most part, it’s usability. You could spend your whole life in Game Mode, browsing your library, buying games, and fiddling with settings without ever touching the Linux desktop. This wasn’t always the case, and the Steam Deck was initially criticized for its “work in progress” software. Thankfully, things have improved massively.
SteamOS is still one of the most compelling reasons to choose the Steam Deck over a competing, more powerful handheld like the ROG Ally X. It’s easy to use if you’re new to the platform while being advanced enough to allow you to do things like set a custom TDP or limit the refresh rate of the display in just a few button presses.
Windows on a handheld, by comparison, is a mess. Middleware from the likes of ASUS attempts to smooth things over, but it’s a far cry from a native solution that ties everything up neatly into one unified interface. Microsoft undoubtedly knows this, since how they tackle this problem is a make-or-break issue for the rumored Xbox handheld.
The easy option would be a handheld-friendly version of the already usable Xbox dashboard. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (plus you can keep your existing themes as a bonus, Valve doesn’t have anything like that). Alternatively, adapting Windows 11 to finally function properly using analog sticks, face buttons, and a small touch screen could work too.
Perhaps the best option would be a fusion of the two, essentially copying Valve’s homework. This would have the added benefit of allowing you to install Steam within Windows.
3
Play Every Game Pass Ultimate Game
It’s a given that a handheld Xbox would be a Game Pass machine, and that seems like a win right out of the gate. But there are undoubtedly some challenges to overcome in pursuit of this goal. How Microsoft would optimize the games to work on a less powerful system remains to be seen, particularly since getting Series S levels of performance from a handheld feels like a tall ask.
With this nut cracked, however, Microsoft could offer something that no other handheld has: an instantly unlockable library of games in a portable factor. Sure, you can install Game Pass games via Windows on your ROG Ally X, but the PC Game Pass catalog isn’t quite the same as the main Game Pass Ultimate offering.
This alone would be tempting for any Xbox owner or Game Pass subscriber, right off the bat. Microsoft already has the Smart Delivery stuff nailed, where saves sync between consoles invisibly so you can always pick up where you left off. Such a feature seems essential on a handheld, but only if the games are compatible.
2
Hit The Right Price Point
Let’s pretend Microsoft manages to nail, or come close to nailing, everything above. There’s one final hurdle to clear if the company is to stick the landing: the price point.
The Steam Deck is a tempting bit of kit because it’s not that expensive, with the base 512GB OLED model starting at $549. Valve has been open about how “painful” it was to hit the original Steam Deck’s launch price. As the hardware has aged, those margins have likely improved. Since Valve also runs the world’s largest online game marketplace, the company isn’t exactly hunting for bills down the back of the sofa.
Microsoft would need to come as close to this price point as possible in order to muscle in on the market. Microsoft’s Xbox strategy has shifted considerably in recent years, with the company vying to grow its Game Pass subscriber base through campaigns like “This is an Xbox” while turning to rival platforms like PlayStation and Switch for additional revenue from once-exclusive games.
If this is indeed the strategy, an aggressive price point is surely part of the plan under the guise of making up the losses through ongoing revenue and a cut of game sales. There’s also an opportunity to offer higher-end, pricier models with more storage or limited edition designs.
1
Offer an “Open” Console Experience
Finally, one thing that likely isn’t of great concern to the average Xbox gamer but that I and many other Steam Deck owners would love to see is some amount of platform openness. Surprisingly, this is something that Xbox consoles already lean into with Developer Mode, but it’s quite a hassle to have to restart your console every time you want to run RetroArch.
The main use case here is what I (and many others) use the Steam Deck for a good 50% of the time: emulation. Installing a range of emulators on your Steam Deck is easy using tools like EmuDeck, and you can go even further and install must-have apps like Decky to tweak how the Steam Deck works. Even being able to use an app like LocalSend to get files to and from your Steam Deck is a godsend.
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The Steam Deck makes this possible thanks to Desktop Mode, which dumps you into a fully-fledged Linux desktop environment. If the Xbox handheld runs Windows underneath, this won’t be an issue. Just like SteamOS, some method of linking the two together would be ideal so that you can do almost everything from a modified Xbox dashboard if you want.
Valve’s open approach has set the bar, and while an Xbox handheld could see success as a closed platform that specializes in the console experience (and Game Pass in particular), the company will have a hard time convincing the Steam Deck faithful to jump ship and abandon the wide-open Linux approach.
I understand that I might not be the average consumer, since I tend to collect gadgets like this whether I mean to or not and there’s a good chance I’ll buy an Xbox handheld whatever happens. Even so, I can’t deny that the prospect of a “pick up and go” Game Pass machine that doesn’t rely on game streaming is just what I’ve been hoping for.
