Could Sony ‘Block’ PlayStation Games On An Xbox Handheld?

With two potential Xbox handhelds on the way (including a partnered device rumoured for this year), there’s been some debate on social media today about whether Sony could potentially block PlayStation games from appearing on there.

Of course, we know that Sony has been reluctant to put first-party games on Xbox consoles over the years, but handhelds are a different story – all of them support Steam, which is where lots of PlayStation first-party games have ultimately ended up. So, could we be playing the likes of Helldivers 2 on an Xbox-branded device later in 2025?

It depends on who you listen to! Today, we’ve seen the likes of YouTuber ColtEastwood and Windows Central editor Jez Corden claiming that a block could be put in place, while The Verge editor Tom Warren has suggested otherwise.

Here’s a sample of the debate:

Jez: For those saying PlayStation can’t block their games on Steam arbitrarily from an “Xbox” PC: they absolutely 100% can. GeForce Now found this out the hard way.

Not dooming, just saying it’s a real possibility and it’d be silly to claim otherwise.

Tom: GFN was about how games were distributed without consulting publishers. That wasn’t anything to do with Valve, and I’d doubt the Steam publishing agreement even allows you to block specific Windows devices…

Colt: PlayStation wouldn’t be blocking Steam, they would be blocking Xbox API to PlayStation games on Steam.

Tom: There is no Xbox API to PlayStation games on Steam, so there’s nothing to block. If Microsoft goes ahead and lists Steam games in the Xbox app on Windows, that will require Steam to be installed on a Windows machine. Sony would need to block Steam on Windows.

Parris: IMO it’s doubtful PlayStation blocks their games via Steam and TBH even if they can is it worth the effort? I think a lot depends on how Xbox would integrate Steam into their UI vs allowing a desktop mode that launches a 3rd party digital store.

Ultimately, we don’t know the answer here at Pure Xbox about whether Sony could potentially block certain Xbox handhelds from accessing specific games on Windows, but should it even be considered anyway? Is there any point going to the hassle of blocking specific titles when we know that players will just find workarounds if it happens?

An Xbox handheld is clearly going to take a different form to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, especially if one arrives this year, so we’d suggest it’s in Sony’s best interest to leave it alone and profit from the extra game sales where possible. It’s one thing to have console exclusives, but trying to block games on PC would be overkill.

Anyway, we thought this was an interesting little debate that the Pure Xbox community should have a say on as well! Let us know what you think down below – is there any possibility that PS games could be blocked on an Xbox handheld?