Touching things up for the handheld’s imminent launch
If you’re getting a Steam Deck, or someday plan to, the question of “how many games in my backlog will be compatible?” has probably echoed in your mind. Valve is answering it ahead of the Deck’s February 25th release date with a new Steam feature that makes it easy to see in your library which games will run great — and which might not fare so well. You can check it out by visiting this page and signing in with your Steam credentials.
Beyond informing you that a game is merely able to run on the Deck, highlighting individual titles on the page and clicking “Steam Deck Compatibility” will surface more useful details, like whether in-game text is legible on the device’s small screen, and if a game’s default graphics settings will run well. In other words, these “Deck Verified” games are your “set it and forget it” games. I’m not getting a Deck at launch, but based on my list of supported games, I’d be a happy camper if I were. It’d be fun to play Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Prey on the smaller screen.
The page also separates out titles that are playable but may require some fiddling with settings, or that you simply accept some compromises to get into the game. In some cases, all that separates a game from being “Playable” and “Verified” is the fact that you need to invoke the virtual touchscreen to enter text at some point. A game that’s “Playable” may also mean that you might see a compatibility warning upon booting, or that its in-game text will appear small. For others, you might need to install some software as a prerequisite, which is a hindrance to quickly getting into the game. Once again, you can find all of the relevant details on a per-title basis by clicking “Steam Deck Compatibility” while hovering over each game.
Lastly, there’s a batch of games that are, as of yet, unsupported and won’t run on the Steam Deck. Most of the games are VR titles for me, but it’s surprising that well-loved FPS games like Hunt: Showdown and Warhammer Vermintide 2 are showing as unsupported. In the case of both games, it comes down to their anti-cheat systems not yet being configured to work with Deck. If you’re seeing some favorites in your “unsupported” section, keep in mind that future Proton updates may add compatibility down the line.
The Steam Deck launches Friday, February 25th. Stay tuned for our full review.
