This cross integration needs to exist in for Windows handhelds to have a chance to succeed, most people buy games from Steam after all.

Theyre way behind the power curve with this one. GOG has had better multi-store integration for a while. I am surprised that steam is even lacking on this. Microsoft needs to make it so i never need to go into the steam app or the GOG app, and so i never want to, to play all my games. Thats the way to win and become number 1. Really if Play anywhere expands retroactively like 360 backwards compatibility did... They will have another great PR boom that brings users like myself back to their storefronts. I have to stop holding my breath for the xbox console library to gain cross compatibility though. Theres no way the Play anywhere program comes close to compensating for all of the classics locked to their consoles. If cross compatibility never happens i will feel slighted as a previous xbox user with a huge library of games.

i reckon steam is lacking on this because steams basically the only client that natively has a steam client on all platforms officially. it doesnt see it as a problem because of that.

> Microsoft needs to make it so i never need to go into the steam app or the GOG app That's never going to happen with any store. Not Microsoft, not Steam, not Epic, not GOG. Either start pirating everything or "hope" one store on PC gets a real monopoly, so there is just one store to buy from.

Had issues with this type of integration with ubisoft connect and division 2. Had to reinstall the whole game again...

> I am surprised that steam is even lacking on this. This is an „underdog” feature - if you own the market like Steam does it could only ever harm sales on their platform. Some people don’t seem to be bothered by the grip Valve has on the market however. Not like Microsoft wouldn’t do that either if they were in the same position because both are ultimately out there to make as much money as possible.

Valve isn't publicly traded, and while that doesn't make them 100 % trustworthy, I'd certainly give them the benefit of the doubt over Microsoft. They make a shit ton of money, but they aren't obligated to squeeze every last penny out of their customers. Sure, it would be nice to have 1-click installers for other launchers within Steam and then automatically list games of other launchers in the Steam library, but I don't even think Valve is the primary blocker here. Steam had the ability to add external shortcuts as long as I can remember, tools like Steam ROM Manager make use of that already. Tim Sweeney for example always likes to cry to the press how bad monopolies are with Steam and their 30 % cut and whatnot, he doesn't seem to grasp that part of the reason almost nobody uses Epic Games Launcher is that it quite frankly sucks. Where is your multi-platform launcher? Ah, need Heroic to do the heavy lifting for you. They could offer an official Flatpak on the Steam Deck, easily installed from the Discover store, that uses Proton for games compatibility, is usable with a controller and adds itself to Steam (and when installing games, adds them to Steam as well). I'm not _that_ bothered by Valve having that kind of "grip on the market" because in my opinion they are also _by far_ the best so I'd rather they own the biggest piece of the cake than anyone else.

I hope you can disable this, or at least hide the games from Steam, because the Xbox App is fucking awful and I'd much rather it just its exclusives, so I don't have to look for them.

It continues to amaze me how Valve fanboys are the only group here that is completely incapable of critique of their platform of choice and will defend it by trying to convince others that a commercial entity can be benovelent.

Steam has the grip it has because nobody else is even trying to compete with them on like terms. Steam doesn’t engage in anti-competitive behavior and even shares their technology with competitors freely.

Are you saying that if there was another store that you could move all your games to, with 10% cut, 10% discount for you and 10% discount for the developer you wouldn’t use it because Steam is so good? Take a look at your games library and imagine 20% of what you paid not going to Valve. Do they really provide good value for that money?

Publishers have their own storefronts and… surprise, not a single one charges 30% less due to avoiding the Steam tax. And yes, I frequently am willing to pay slightly more to keep things in Steam. It means easier Steam Deck access, family sharing, Steam Link, and other benefits that I would miss out on via other platforms, even if they were cheaper (which we established was not the case).

For me that comes up to a couple hundred euros, definitely not seeing where that goes. Someone said here that Valve doesn’t chase profit at all cost because they’re a private company. We’re talking about pioneers of enshittification though, look what they’ve done to Team Fortress 2 or Dota 2. They turned both into casinos for children, breaking cohesion and balance, just to chase the profits. Do you think those people run Steam ethically or with your interest in mind?

None of those are games for children. Or casinos. Are you trying to argue that selling cosmetics in games is inherently unethical?

Selling cosmetics via loot boxes is gambling. They market their video games to children (all rated 13+). Way to twist what I’ve said lol. Goodbye, I’m blocking all Valve shills for sanity lately.

It's kind of satisfying to see Valve and SteamOS out so much pressure on Microsoft.

why not be mad about the gumball machines full of random toys instead? is that not directly targeting kids with gambling?

I’m against all gambling, especially targeting kids. So yeah, we can get rid of gumball machines. Bad attempt at whataboutism because I’m no hypocrite.