How to play Xbox and PC Game Pass games on Steam Deck

Playing Xbox and PC Game Pass games on your Steam Deck requires a little technical know-how, but we’ve got a way to do it with as little stress as possible.

The Steam Deck is a glorious piece of tech, and the upgraded OLED model has only cemented its place as one of the best handhelds on the market.

Those coming in new to the handheld might be a little perplexed as to why they can’t install Game Pass apps and have to stream them instead, but we’ve got a breakdown of the easiest way to do this below.

How to play Game Pass games on Steam Deck: Step-by-step guide

To install Xbox and PC Game Pass titles on Steam Deck, you’ll need to follow these steps:

1. Install Microsoft Edge on your Steam Deck
2. Add Microsoft Edge to Steam
3. Set up Microsoft Edge for Gaming Mode
4. Adjust Edge’s Launch options
5. Configure your Steam Deck controls

For a breakdown of each step, we’ve got all the information you need below:

Install Microsoft Edge

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As long as you use a Chromium browser, you should be able to stream games just fine. Chromium powers both Chrome and Edge, so we’ll go with Edge for simplicity’s sake.

The first step here is to put your Steam Deck into Desktop Mode by holding down the Power button and selecting ‘Switch to Desktop mode‘ from the menu that appears.

Once in Desktop mode, press the ‘Discover‘ app icon from the toolbar – which we’ve highlighted in the image above.

From the App, type ‘Microsoft Edge‘ into the search bar, and after a list of apps has populated, click ‘Install‘ on the top result.

Add Microsoft Edge to Steam

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While still in Desktop mode, navigate to the Steam Deck Launcher and select the launcher icon from the desktop toolbar (we’ve highlighted this in the above image).

Once the Launcher pops up, scroll up to ‘All Applications’ and find Microsoft Edge from the list of apps.

Hover over ‘Microsoft Edge’ and right-click by pressing the L2 trigger button. From the now-opened drop-down menu, scroll down and select ‘Add to Steam.’

This will add it to your Steam library, where the application can be accessed as a ‘non-Steam‘ game within gaming mode.

Set-up Edge for Gaming Mode

Now, find the Konsole app from the All Applications menu. This is the terminal app on SteamOS.

Once it’s open, access the on-screen keyboard by pressing the Steam+X buttons simultaneously, and copy and paste the following:

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

When this has been done, Microsoft Edge will have access to your controls when you swap over to Gaming Mode.

Adjust Edge launch options

While you’re still in Desktop mode, open up Steam, and find Microsoft Edge in your Library. Right-click on it and press Properties.

Navigate to Launch options and copy-paste the following after the @@u @@ (be sure to keep the space):

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

Save and you can now exit out to Gaming Mode. When you load up Microsoft Edge for the first time, you should be sent straight to Xbox Cloud Streaming. It’s important to note you need an active Xbox Game Pass subscription to access Game Pass games.

You can also rename ‘Microsoft Edge’ to ‘Xbox Cloud Gaming‘ by selecting the app in your non-Steam game library and navigating to ‘Properties.’ In this menu, you can also upload custom art for the app. Though this is completely optional.

Configure Steam Deck controls

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Selecting the controller icon on your newly added Xbox Cloud Gaming app from your non-Steam games tab will generate a list of official, and community-created controller templates.

If it’s not selected by default, choose ‘Gamepad with Mouse Track.’ This will give you the best results playing Xbox games on Steam Deck. With this template, you can also still use the trackpad to navigate Xbox Cloud Gaming menus.

It’s worth noting that some games may still require you to go into their individual settings, and manually adjust the button layout on Steam Deck.

Finally, you just need to launch the application and log in to your Game Pass account by clicking the sign-in button. Once that’s done you’ll be able to enjoy your games.

How to install Xbox Game Pass games on Steam Deck

If you don’t want to stream Game Pass games on your Steam Deck, you can install Windows on your handheld instead. It’s a bit more complex than setting up Xbox Cloud Gaming, however.

You can read our dedicated Windows setup guide to get that sorted.

You can see our guides on how to install Epic Games Store titles to your Steam Deck, as well as how to play your free Amazon Prime Gaming games.