While Microsoft has not made any official announcements about its next-gen Xbox console, recent leaks have suggested that it will be a more open system, essentially offering up a living-room friendly PC with a more open platform. Now, a recently posted image from Microsoft itself seems to back that idea up. 

In a blog post reiterating the ‘Xbox mission statement', Leo Olebe, VP of Global Partnerships, shared a mock-up image of a version of the Xbox UI that includes a Steam tab.

We've been hearing for years that Microsoft could potentially bring Steam to Xbox consoles, as the Xbox OS shares a lot of DNA with Windows. However, so far, nothing has come of it.

If Microsoft is planning to make the next Xbox a living-room friendly PC, with a Steam Deck style UI and the ability to enter a desktop mode, then Steam support on Xbox would be entirely possible. In that scenario, gamers would be able to access Xbox, PC and PlayStation titles, as Sony has been bringing many of its biggest games to Steam in recent years.

This could also be a much simpler issue. There are many ‘universal' launchers on PC that allow gamers to link all their different gaming accounts to display all digital games in a unified library. Microsoft may just be looking to add a feature like that to the Xbox app.

After the image was spotted by XboxEra, Microsoft did swap it out with a different image – one that doesn't showcase a Steam tab in the Xbox UI.

KitGuru Says: Nothing has been officially announced yet, but Microsoft's next-generation Xbox plans are shaping up to be quite interesting. 

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