Xbox Game Pass has always been somewhat difficult to use on the Steam Deck. Since Microsoft’s PC gaming service doesn’t officially support SteamOS or Linux, Deck owners have generally had to rely on Xbox Cloud Gaming, install Windows, or find other workarounds. Now, however, an unofficial project has made it possible to download and play select PC Game Pass games locally on the Steam Deck.

The project is called Xodus Nexus, an open-source launcher built around Xodus. It essentially gives Linux users a way to sign in to their Xbox account, check their game licenses, download supported Microsoft Store games, and launch them locally. This includes games available through PC Game Pass as well as supported Xbox Play Anywhere and other Xbox PC titles that users already own.

For Steam Deck owners, the important part is that this isn’t cloud streaming. Supported games are actually downloaded to the handheld and run locally, meaning you don’t need to stream the entire game from Microsoft’s servers while playing.

Experimental Steam Deck support is now available

Xodus Nexus has also received experimental Steam Deck support. The launcher can be added to Steam and used through Gaming Mode, with controller navigation available. However, the experience is still somewhat rough, and users may occasionally need the touchscreen or mouse controls to navigate certain login screens and menus.

While this is a major step forward, Xodus Nexus doesn’t suddenly make the entire PC Game Pass library compatible with SteamOS. Support varies significantly between games, and some titles may refuse to launch or have problems with their online features.

The GitHub page lists 42 games (see below) that are fully playable at the moment, including Gears of War: E-Day, Minecraft Dungeons 2, Deep Rock Galactic, No Man’s Sky, Forza Horizon 6, Palworld, and Valor Mortis. A further four games have ‘Partial’ compatibility. In contrast, games such as The Witcher 3 and some UWP-based titles currently have problems or don’t work at all.

• AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative
• Avowed
• Balatro
• Danganronpa 2
• Deep Rock Galactic
• DOOM Eternal
• DOOM: The Dark Ages
• DREDGE
• Fallout 76
• Forza Horizon 6
• Gears of War: E-Day
• Hades
• Halo: Campaign Evolved
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• LIMBO
• Minecraft Dungeons
• Minecraft Dungeons II
• Minecraft for Windows
• Minecraft Legends
• Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
• Mortal Shell: Enhanced Edition
• Neon Abyss 2
• No Man’s Sky
• Palworld
• PowerWash Simulator 2
• Resident Evil 2
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
• Sea of Thieves
• SIGNALIS
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
• The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos
• The Outer Worlds 2
• TUNIC
• Valor Mortis
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
• Wasteland Remastered
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
• Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
• Wreckfest

Performance is another area where users should keep their expectations in check. Games running through Xodus Nexus may not perform as well as their Steam versions, partly because they don’t benefit from the same shared shader cache setup.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.