Game Pass on Steam Deck: how to set it up

Gamer or non-gamer we all had a portable console that allowed us to take our favorite games with us. Today the most enthusiasts, in addition to the classic consoles, buy to downloadable games directly to the PC thanks to the Steam platform. What if we told you that today it is possible to take your favorite video games with you? Yes, even the PC ones. In fact, in July 2021 the on-the-go platform announced that it would bring out the hybrid concept of Nintendo Switch in PC gaming. But we are talking for all intents and purposes about a scaled-down PC.
One of the most interesting features of the Steam Deck is being able to conveniently play games from Xbox Game Pass (a monthly subscription service that provides subscribers with access to a vast number of games selected by Xbox). Let’s see together, however, what games are supported and how to download Game Pass to Steam Deck.

Supported games

Let us clarify right away that it is not possible to download games directly to Steam Deck, but they will have to be downloaded via the Game Pass cloud. This means that the games in question are all those that have cloud booting on Game Pass. So to transfer Game Pass games to Steam Deck you will have the option of running them in the cloud on Edge browser. If you fear for the security of your Deck don’t worry because this is for all intents and purposes the official guide provided by Microsoft.

How to set it up Game Pass on Steam Deck

Premise:

Please note, for this procedure it is recommended to have a mouse and keyboard to connect to Steam Deck. If you do not have a keyboard, we remind you that by pressing STEAM+X you can bring up the virtual keyboard on the console and it will be shown on the touch screen.

Let’s start step by step. Press the Steam key to open the menu. Select the ON/OFF item and then select Switch to desktop. You will now find yourself in the desktop version of your Steam Deck.
Press the Discover Software Center icon (the light blue bag icon) at the bottom left. Now click on Applications, then on Internet, and finally on Web Browser. A list will open in which you will select Microsoft Edge and then Install. Now close Discover Software Center and press on the icon at the bottom left of your desktop to open Application Launcher. The icon you are going to open would be the corresponding one from the Windows Start menu, which in this case has the Steam Deck logo. In the menu that will open, select Internet and the Microsoft Edge icon will appear. Right-click, or hold down on the touchscreen, and select Add to Steam. As another window opens, scroll down until you find Microsoft Edge. Put a checkmark next to the browser name and select Add Selected Programs.

At this point, return to the desktop. To open your Steam Deck terminal, press Application Launcher again, then System and finally Konsole. Within the latter, enter the following text:
flatpak –user override –filesystem=/run/udev:ro com.microsoft.Edge
Then press enter to confirm the command. Close the konsole and select the Steam icon on the desktop. In the Collection section, you will find Microsoft Edge in the list, right-click on it and select Properties. Change the name that appears to Xbox Cloud Gaming or whatever you want. In the same window select the Startup Options item where you will find a line with a long string of text. Click on it and scroll to the end without changing anything in the text already there. After finding @@u @@ enter the following text:
–window-size=1024,640 –force-device-scale-factor=1.25 –device-scale-factor=1.25 –kiosk “https://www.xbox.com/play”
Close the window to save the adjustments.

Final steps

Once you have come this far, you are back in your Collection on Steam. Right-click on Xbox Cloud Gaming, or whatever name you chose, and click on Manage then on Controller Layout. Now select brows configs, among the different choices select Game pad with Mouse Trackpad. Now choose apply configuration, now press End to confirm the adjustments. When done, press the icon at the top left of the desktop Return to Gaming Mode to return to the standard Steam Deck mode. Finally, you are finished. Remember that in your Steam Deck game library, Xbox Cloud Gaming will appear in the non-Steam Steam list. We further remind you that Microsoft’s recommended requirement for playing with its cloud is a connection with 7 Mbps download or higher.