Being that the Steam Deck is a portable PC that, according to Valve, does not necessarily have to run its factory operating system, SteamOS, users should be able to run Windows 10 on the portable console and install games from the Epic Games Store, which has been Ubisoft’s go-to platform in recent years. However, according to the French video game company, it is reconsidering the Steam platform.
Are more Ubisoft games coming to Steam?
Kidding aside, we are well aware that Ubisoft knows the Steam Deck is a portable PC that gamers can play their games on once the handheld comes out. What we’re talking about is the Steam platform itself. Speaking on a recent earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot shared his thoughts about the Steam Deck. Guillemot expressed that he is happy to “see Steam Deck coming to the industry” and that the company “will look and see how big it becomes”. He later added that Ubisoft will put its games on it “if it’s big.” Of course, Guillemot probably wasn’t referring to the Steam Deck itself, but the Steam platform. At the moment, Ubisoft still has more than a dozen quality titles available on Steam. However, the company’s more recent releases are available exclusively on the Epic Games Store and its own Ubisoft Store. Back in 2019, the Ubisoft CEO explained that this was a financial decision. The more attractive terms offered by Epic Games for its digital games distribution platform made far more sense at the time. As we reported earlier following Microsoft’s decision to cut down on its revenue cut on games listed on the Microsoft Store, the Epic Games Store currently has the most economical offering for publishers. In comparison to Steam’s 30% sliding cut, the EGS only takes a 12% cut of all sales on its platform. It will be a huge win for everyone if the Steam Deck does indeed convince Ubisoft to relist its games on Steam. Rough estimates put Steam at having a 50% to 70% market share in the PC games market. It also seems to be the preferred digital games distribution platform by nearly everyone on the PC. For what it’s worth, Epic has tried its best to make the Epic Games Store a more attractive alternative. The popular software developer is willing to throw absurd amounts of cash to secure free titles and exclusive releases. Ubisoft is expected to release Far Cry 6 later this year with XDefiant and Rainbow Six Extraction expected to follow sometime in 2022.
