The Steam Deck portable PC gaming system launches next month, and Valve is currently in the process of reviewing essentially every title on Steam for compatibility. A few days ago, some games were being updated with a “Steam Deck Compatibility” score ranging from one to four to determine whether the game is unpayable, barely playable, playable, or verified to work well. Some games like Death Stranding are verified, while others like Subnautica are just listed as “playable.” In all, SteamDB shows under 100 titles with this tag so far, but what does this mean for the Steam Deck?
How many titles will actually be enjoyable at launch?
The Steam Deck will be revolutionary if it holds up to what Valve claimed when the device was announced. Supposedly able to play all Steam games at some point, titles recently began to be updated with a Steam Deck Compatibility score that ranges from unplayable to completely verified. Right now, SteamDB shows under 100 titles with the tag, and even fewer are fully verified to be working.
Some titles, like Death Stranding, Psychonauts 2, Hollow Knight, Celeste, Cuphead, Dishonored, and a few others fall into the “Verified” category, where Steam says that everything should work as intended in the titles. However, many other games, such as Battlefield 1, Subnautica, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Titanfall 2 fall into the category of being functional, but having some problems. Be that text legibility, launch interaction issues, first-time setups that require internet connection, or other problems, these games won’t be completely compatible at launch, though they will work technically speaking. Valve is constantly adding new titles to this compatibility list, and hopefully the game count will be well over 100 when Steam Deck launches next month.
9to5Toys’ take
Steam Deck is poised to create a huge shift in the gaming industry in many ways. The biggest thing that Steam Deck brings, in my opinion, isn’t even the fact that it allows for portable gaming. While that’s awesome, Steam Deck is built on Linux and not Windows. Many of the games above are listed as Windows-only in the Steam store, and the fact that they’re now running on Linux means that it’s possible gamers on other platforms besides Windows will soon be able to enjoy their favorite titles. Right now, this is but a pipe dream, though Valve has expressed interest in doing something similar for a while now.
As someone who primarily works from a MacBook Pro, it would be awesome to be able to fire up my favorite Steam games and play them on the go. Even if it wouldn’t be the exact same experience as I would get by playing on a PC, it would still be an option I would welcome with open arms. But, on the topic of the Steam Deck, it’s something I’m considering picking up in the next few years to use as a portable gaming and design system. The specs of Steam Deck make it great not only for gaming on the go, but also for docking to a monitor and mouse and using as a full-on desktop for lightweight design and editing work, since Steam Deck can fully function as a regular computer if needed. I’ve not pre-ordered a Steam Deck, and likely won’t, though that doesn’t stop me from wanting to check one out as soon as I can. Are you picking one up? Chime in on Twitter @pcamp96 and let me know!
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