I love my Steam Deck. I was fortunate enough to be in one of the early batches at launch, and it's truly one of my favorite pieces of tech. It isn't perfect, but it's still the one I'd recommend to most people, though I also appreciate that issues with game compatibility are jarring. As can be the experience of using Linux if you want to do anything on it that isn't just playing games you bought on Steam.
Recently I've finally tried a Windows-based alternative in the ROG Ally X (check out our ROG Ally X review for more information). With Windows 11, problems like game (and more often than not, anticheat) compatibility vanish, all of the major game launchers are natively available, and most things should just work. But Windows also provides a native use case I simply hadn't thought of before.
Embedded in the Xbox app for Windows is the ability to remote play from your Xbox console. I knew this existed, but I hadn't considered it being a major plus when using a handheld until now. It's something that's changed how I use these devices, and I feel really silly for blanking on it until now.
I use Steam Link on my Deck, why hadn't I thought of this until now?!
What makes it more ridiculous, I hadn't even considered this, is that I've used Steam Link on my Steam Deck quite a bit over the last couple of years. It's not something I tend to do during the summer, though, because leaving my gaming PC on just makes my office turn into a sauna.
My Xbox Series X is in the same room, though, and regardless of how big my Steam library is, Xbox is still my main platform. The ROG Ally X has been a godsend in these hotter times, because I can sit on the sofa in the coolest room in the house and still grind away on The First Descendant and The Division 2. I don't play either of those games on PC (there's a whole thing about cross progression bugs in The First Descendant for one) and even if I did, they play better on my Series X than they would on the ROG Ally X.
At $799, it's a pretty expensive way to remote play from a console, but I'm not suggesting it's a major selling point. Just that it's an incredibly useful feature that had, perhaps foolishly, passed me by. There's also a cheaper ROG Ally, of course, and other Windows-based handhelds.
Can you remote play Xbox on the Steam Deck?
The ROG Ally X is, sadly, a loaner from ASUS, so it'll have to go back. But I don't want to relinquish what I have now discovered I really enjoy. So can you do the same somehow on the Steam Deck? Absolutely!
It isn't as slick, it requires a third-party app, and it's not free, either. But it's perfectly possible to do with an app called XBPlay that's available to buy through Steam. There's a free trial, too, that gives you 20 minutes to check it out first, but to install that you'll need to go into the desktop and install it through the software center.
I haven't yet bought the full app, but the trial showed me how well it can work on the Steam Deck, and I'll definitely be investing. The UI is a little basic, but functional, and there have been no compatibility issues that I've seen so far using the Steam Deck's controller versus an Xbox controller or the controls on the ROG Ally X.
XBPlay also has a feature to use Xbox Cloud Gaming, too, which you can already do without buying an app, but this certainly feels more convenient.
I've been enlightened to the brilliance of remote play
All told, I've never really used Xbox remote play in all the years I could have been. I'd just go fire up the Xbox, but the freedom I've discovered from using the ROG Ally X, and longer term, my Steam Deck, has been enlightening.
In some cases, it's just better than playing the game locally on a handheld. I've been playing The First Descendant a ton since it came out, and while it plays pretty well on both the ROG Ally X and the Steam Deck, it plays better on my Xbox Series X. This is only useful at home, but it means I can play anywhere in the house, rather than at my desk. And with my kids on a six-week break from school right now, that's more handy than you could ever imagine!
It also makes the prospect of an Xbox-branded handheld make a little more sense. I wouldn't be too happy if something turned up, and it was an Xbox version of the PlayStation Portal, but we've equally seen that cloud and remote play focused handhelds like the Logitech G Cloud can be fantastic.
