Steam Deck Has No Subscription Service Plans Yet | Screen Rant
Gabe Newell reveals that Valve has no plans for a Steam Deck-based subscription service, but the console may support existing ones like Game Pass.
The long-awaited Steam Deck may be out now, but Valve isn’t planning on bringing any kind of subscription service to the console anytime soon. Steam’s new portable gaming system was finally released earlier this week following a delayed development cycle. So far, critical reception to the Steam Deck has been quite positive, with reviewers praising Valve’s new console for being able to run high-tier PC games like The Witcher 3 and Elden Ring in a manner similar to the Nintendo Switch. However, the shorter battery lifespan could prove to be an issue with players looking to see what the Steam Deck has to offer.
Gamers were taken by surprise when Valve announced the Steam Deck last summer, but excitement for a portable gaming system that would allow players to take their Steam libraries with them on the go would slowly build in the months leading up to its eventual February release. Some major selling points for the Steam Deck have included a comfortable control scheme, cloud-based save files that can carry a player’s progress to their PCs, and a user-friendly UI that will one day replace Steam's aging Big Picture Mode. Rumors have suggested that Valve will eventually release a Steam Dock that will let players connect their new systems to their TV screens just like the Switch, and Valve President Gabe Newell has hinted that his company is already planning a Steam Deck 2 for some point in the future.
However, one thing Valve isn’t considering at this time is a Steam Deck-exclusive subscription service. Gabe Newell recently sat down for an interview with PC Gamer to discuss the Steam Deck’s recent launch (via Eurogamer), and he stated that Valve currently sees no need for “building a subscription service at this time." However, he does note the popularity of existing subscription services like Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass, saying that Valve is open to working with partners to help get these services on Steam Deck in the near future.
Gaming subscription services like Xbox Game Pass have become considerably successful over the past few years, as they allow subscribers to access a vast library of titles for a small monthly fee - similar to major video subscription services like Netflix. PlayStation is said to be developing its own answer to Xbox Game Pass that will supposedly replace the current PlayStation Now and allow fans to enjoy games from the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 eras in addition to recent titles. However, some observers believe that Sony's planned tier-based structure for the rumored "Spartacus” might be seen as inferior to Xbox Game Pass’s model, as players might have to pay more to access the service’s retro offerings.
In the meantime, it doesn’t look like Valve is going to be entering the brewing subscription war anytime soon, instead choosing to allow Steam Deck users access to existing services like the Xbox Game Pass on its newly released hardware. This matches statements made by Xbox head Phil Spencer back when the Steam Deck was first announced, in which he suggested that the Steam Deck could handle Microsoft’s xCloud streaming service. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Valve won’t decide to start its own Steam-based subscription service in the future if the Steam Deck proves successful, but that currently remains to be seen.