Xbox Game Pass is, by far, one of the best deals in gaming. It gives players access to hundreds of titles at a relatively affordable price (at least after the price cut a few months ago), but PC Game Pass has always been tied to needing a Windows-based device. That meant handhelds running SteamOS were out of luck.
That has now all changed, thanks to Xodus Nexus, an independent and unofficial project that lets you natively play Xbox games on your Linux devices, including the Steam Deck and Steam Machine.
Could this convince Xbox gamers to switch to Linux?
You might be wondering how this works. Well, essentially, it lets you sign in to your Microsoft account, browse your library, and then use Proton as a translation layer to play your games natively on Linux.
According to the project documentation, you can browse the Store, install games you own or access through a subscription, and play with one shared runtime. Xbox sign-in and cloud saves are also available for supported games.
Right now, it can’t play every Xbox game on Linux, but the list so far is still impressive. It includes titles like Gears of War: E-Day, Deep Rock Galactic, Minecraft Dungeons II, Forza Horizon 6, No Man’s Sky, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Sea of Thieves, all with the usual Xbox bells and whistles and multiplayer support.
The full list of compatible games can be found here.
I always hoped Xbox would release their games on Linux at some point, though I understand how that could be a bit counter-intuitive to Xbox’s plans for Windows and their own gaming hardware. Despite Linux being home to a small number of players, it’s still a competitor in the space. And well... Xbox porting to competing hardware didn’t really go over all too well last time, with Xbox consoles now returning to exclusivity.
Still, seeing community projects like this is great, and I hope to see the project continue to expand. The Steam Deck used to be a great bit of kit, at least before the price hike, and whilst the Steam Machine seemingly released, never to be spoken about again, it is still awesome to see the community tackle Game Pass on hardware it was never meant for.
Do let me know: do projects like this mean you’d switch from Windows to Linux, or is it more of a novelty? Let me know in the comments and be sure to take part in our poll!
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