Given that the Steam Deck has become the ultimate all-rounder console, it's common to find users who want to use it in some rather unusual ways. We've already seen how to use it to remotely play PS5 games , and now it's time to do the same with the Xbox Series X|S, because yes, it's also possible to play remotely from Valve's little console. But how?
Running xCloud without Windows Edge on Steam Deck
One of the requirements for running Microsoft's cloud gaming web app is having Windows and the Edge browser . While you can install the browser on Steam OS, if you prefer to keep everything in game mode and not leave the default Steam Deck interface, you should check out this tutorial to learn how to keep everything exactly as you want it.
The secret lies in Greenlight , an open-source application that acts as a client for xCloud and Xbox's local streaming service, so you can access both Microsoft's cloud streaming and local streaming generated from an Xbox.
It's an extremely handy solution, and as we'll see, once it's fully installed and configured, it works like a charm.
How to install Greenlight on Steam Deck
To install the application, the first thing we need to do is switch to Desktop mode and open our browser to visit the Greenlight repository page . We must download the .AppImage version , as this will be compatible with the Linux version of Steam OS and will be ready to run immediately.
Just download the app and double-click to run it to get started, but if you get the message “For security reasons, launching executables is not allowed in this context”, you'll need to right-click the app and select “Run in Konsole”. ”.
With the application open, you will be able to sign in with your Xbox credentials and thus access the service to see the games from the Microsoft cloud (as long as you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate), as well as the consoles available with the remote control activated.
Run Greenlight in Gaming Mode
You can already play Xbox games from the Steam Deck, but for now you'll have to do it by running the app in desktop mode. Is there a way to do it from Gaming mode? Yeah.
The first thing you'll need to do is download the AppImage Launcher application and store the download in the Home folder.
Then, all we have to do is open the operating system console (Konsole) and execute these two commands:
- chmod +x appimagelauncher-lite-2.2.0-travis995-0f91801-x86_64.AppImage
- ./appimagelauncher-lite-2.2.0-travis995-0f91801-x86_64.AppImage install
This will create a folder called "Applications", and it will be there where we copy the Greenlight application that we previously opened and configured to enter the Microsoft cloud. With the application copied (or moved) to the new location (/Home/Applications), we will right-click on it and select “add to Steam”.
We will already have the application in our Steam library and perfectly accessible from the Steam OS Gaming mode. Now we only have to run it from said mode and enjoy all the games available in the cloud or remotely control the console that we have turned on in the other room of the house. Everything is for being able to play with our Xbox while we are in bed, right?