While the Xbox Series X and PS5 have much to offer, both models still miss out on an important feature that PC gamers have long enjoyed: access to the game distribution platform Steam. However, that situation is changing.

At a public panel in New Zealand, Valve CEO Gabe Newell acknowledged that Steam could be included on game consoles in the future. The only question is when that will be and in what form.

This news comes from a post on Reddit, which has since been removed and the account deleted. The archived version of that thread does not reveal further details, so please view this news with great skepticism.

In any case, when asked about the prospects for Steam on consoles, Newell reportedly said, "We'll have a better idea by the end of the year." This is a mystery, but it does suggest that there will be some sort of announcement in the next six to seven months.

The only question is what Steam for consoles will look like. Most likely, Steam will not offer a full digital store, as it deals with PC games and not consoles. One must also consider the fact that Microsoft and Sony have their systems locked down pretty tightly and will not allow competing services to choose to prey on their revenue.

My guess is that Steam on consoles will be limited to the platform's many social features; Steam has long offered everything one would expect from another social gaming app, including chat, voice chat, and friend lists; Discord may be the most notable, but Steam can do the same.

Some of these features have already made it to consoles in the past. Portal 2 was released on the PS3 along with Steamworks, which enabled several cross-device integrations, including cloud saving, cross-platform play, and instant messaging. Although Microsoft was not on board at the time, there is no reason why Valve could not make this type of deal for next-generation consoles.

So we will have to wait and see what happens with this in the coming months. At the very least, given the size and popularity of Steam, we should expect to see a stronger connection between PC and console gamers.

In the meantime, I'm just going to sit back and wait: I hope they port Alyx to PSVR ASAP.