It's been about two weeks since Microsoft updated their PC app to have an aggregated gaming library, which merges users' installed Xbox library, their Game Pass titles, and even games from other stores. The one thing on everyone's minds, however, is what that update means for the future of Xbox, with plenty of speculation about the next Xbox console potentially featuring PlayStation titles as well.

Think of Spider-Man: Miles Morales showing up alongside the next Halo game in the same launcher. This isn't a matter of tidying up your launchers like Playnite. Instead, it's about Sony games that have been ported to PC, being available to play on the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally. This could potentially mean the same OS being used for the next Xbox console, which, if rumors are to be believed, is shaping up to be a PC wrapped in an Xbox console's shell. Whether that means a future where you could purchase an Xbox and have your Steam games run on it is yet to be seen, but it sure looks like that may just happen.

What is the Xbox aggregated gaming library?

The aggregated gaming library is effectively Microsoft's newest way of making sure that all your PC games don't feel like a scattered mess across several storefronts and launchers. Currently, it hasn't been rolled out to the public, and is only being tested by Xbox Insiders through the PC Gaming Preview. Later during the 2025 holiday season, Microsoft has confirmed they will make this feature available on their upcoming handhelds, the ROG Xbox Ally and the Ally X.

This effectively folds your entire collection — from Xbox and Game Pass to Steam, BattleNet, and the Epic Games Store. Look, yes, it's about PC games running on a PC, yes, but it's an Xbox app, after all. Installing a game from any supported launcher will make it show up in your Xbox library, and Microsoft has promised more stores, more integrations, and more convenience.

Could we could see Steam and Epic Games libraries running on the next mainline Xbox console?

Now, as I said, this is effectively just PC games running on a PC, but it is, after all, making its way to the Xbox handheld as well. Granted, that's essentially an ROG ally that's Xbox-branded, but that's only one more step away from being on a full-fledged future Xbox console. There has been no shortage of rumors about Xbox potentially launching their next console as early as 2026, but even if it comes out in 2027 as everyone expects, it looks like it's shaping up to effectively be a PC that runs on Xbox UI.

If that does end up happening, we could be looking at Steam, Epic, BattleNet, and other libraries making their way over to the Xbox console instead of just Windows PCs. Of course, with that territory comes the unprecedented potential of running all Steam games on the new Xbox console, including first-party PlayStation titles that the Sony brand has ported over to PC. The God of War, Horizon, The Last of Us, and Spider-Man games could very well be included in those games.

PlayStation might block their first-party PC titles from playing on Xbox

We all remember what happened in 2021 — when GeForce Now went live to the public and was accessible on Xbox through the Edge browser. Nvidia's proprietary cloud-gaming service allows users to stream their PC games to other devices. For a very short while, those PC games included PS-exclusive games that came to PC (like Death Stranding), and those devices also included an Xbox.

Of course, Sony stepped in pretty quickly to block Death Stranding ASAP from being playable on Series X/S consoles, while still keeping it available to stream on PC and mobile. Industry insiders firmly believe that PlayStation could very well do the same if their PC games were to indeed make their way over to Xbox.

On the other hand, plenty of users on X disagree, stating that while PlayStation did have the ball in their court during the GeForce Now fiasco, they won't be able to do the same with Steam, since streaming and publishing rights are different ball games altogether. Even if they did find a way, it'd be wrong to assume that PlayStation won't, at the very least, try what they could to block their games on Steam from running on the next 2027 Xbox console.

Xbox titles have still steadily made their way over to PlayStation

A soul for a soul... or ten

Sony-owned Helldivers 2 just made its way to Xbox, and someone should check if there's ice forming in hell. The co-op third-person shooter has been Sony's most successful live-service game ever, and that list isn't all that long (RIP Concord). A few days ago, anyone suggesting this game being on Xbox would've been called all sorts of words, but it has really happened, and it's nothing short of monumental.

In return, of course, Xbox has been sending their first-party titles over to PlayStation, but it has clearly not been an even trade. After all, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Forza Horizon 5, Gears of War, Sea of Thieves, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered have already begun calling the PlayStation Store their second home. Starfield is also on its way, and — I say this with all 10 pairs of fingers crossed — Halo could very well be coming, considering the flow of things.

That being said, if we were to consider this a show of good faith between the two historic console rivals, PlayStation just might let Xbox's next console breathe easy with its Steam and Epic launchers.

Things have been looking terrible for Microsoft's gaming division

Where are the first-party games, Xbox?

Things have never looked worse for Microsoft's gaming division, and honestly, it's getting hard to watch. In 2024 alone, they laid off thousands of employees, and they just sacked nearly 9,000 employees just a day before the time of writing this. They've just canceled an MMORP from Zenimax Online Studios mid-development, laying off 10% of the staff over at King, the developers of Candy Crush.

Even the upcoming Perfect Dark, which was near the top of my list of upcoming games I'd been waiting for, has been canceled, and the studio they opened, titled The Initiative, has been shut down. Rare Games' upcoming title Everwild also got axed, with multiple major studios having gone through lay-offs, including Forza's Turn10 Studios and 343 Games' Halo Studios. Furthermore, there's no news about what they have in store, if anything, for Xbox's 25th anniversary, and no release dates or progress reports about games like Fable, Gears of War: E-Day, and Hideo Kojima's OD.

It's clear that their big-picture strategy, which has been all about focusing on Game Pass subscriptions and getting as many people as they can to buy and play their games, is still unaffected. With all that being said and done, I don't think it's completely wrong to assume that a change in leadership could be coming soon, and talks about the next mainline Xbox console possibly being the last don't look all that ludicrous now.

What happens in 2027 depends on how Xbox handles things right now

If Microsoft truly leans into the idea of the next Xbox being a full-fledged PC running an Xbox UI, I don't see why PlayStation's own PC ports wouldn't be able to run on it. After all, they would just be Steam or Epic games running on a PC, technically speaking.

The Xbox part, then, would just be branding. Of course, Sony could try to block that from happening by stepping in and doing everything they can to keep their games on PC and their consoles only, but whether they succeed is something only time will tell. One thing is for certain, though — we're headed for a very interesting future vis-à-vis the console war, which might not even exist by the time the decade's done.