Big announcement! AMD is bringing FSR 4 to older GPU architectures, including the one the Steam Deck uses. This may mean we are getting an official version for the Deck. Now they don't specifically say it in the video, but it does show an ROG Ally and Legion Go, which are both handhelds. It is speculation, but if it is compatible with RDNA 2, we should be seeing support for the Deck.
Hello! So we reviewed Forza Horizon 6, and boy is it a wonderful time on the Steam Deck. Putting things realistically, it runs with solid visuals at 30 FPS, though there is some minor drops to 28 FPS in the city. Still, for the low preset and TAA anti-aliasing (not using any upscaling), the game looks and feels good to play on the go.
I know how we all feel about the Verified system; it's not always the most accurate, but it's still nice to see it having the green checkmark. I look forward to discussing its Steam Deck performance more in-depth in a couple of days!
Ahead of its release, we got to ask Blades of Fire developer MercurySteam some questions about how it will perform on the Steam Deck. They will be aiming for a stable 30 FPS with upscaling. It's possible they could push more, but they chose to make changes to prioritize a stable framerate above all else.
Hello! My name is Noah Kupetsky, and I run the website SteamDeckHQ. With Valve releasing the Steam Frame, we plan on expanding and starting to cover the Frame and review VR games.
With that in mind, I wanted to gauge the community here and see what kind of written articles or video content you guys want to see or like seeing. Do you want to see older games evaluated on the Frame? Comparisons with other leading headsets, like the Quest 3? I would love to know!
We reviewed Directive 8020, and it's a pretty solid experience on the Steam Deck towards the beginning of the game. It can stick to 30 FPS, and it looks pretty great for the kind of game it is, but towards the second half of the game, there are more cutscenes and areas that will drop. It becomes CPU-bound, and will drop to the low 20 FPS range in some areas, no matter what setting we have. I would still consider it ok to play because of the type of game it is, but it will drop towards the last few episodes of the game.
And yes, I did test frame generation and lossless scaling, with lossless scaling working better. It feels "ok" in the beginning, but those CPU-bound areas feel awful. And with the added input lag, I still wouldn't recommend using any frame gen.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess PC Port (Dusk) was released yesterday, and it's amazing on the Steam Deck. The TwilitRealm team has done an amazing job with it, and it's the best way to experience the game now. It's super easy to set up on Deck, too, so we made a video to show how to do it!
We also wrote a guide, which can be found on our website.
We got to play and review Outbound ahead of its release, and it's decently playable on the Steam Deck. Open world survival games can be quite heavy on the Deck, but Outbound handles it fairly well. At the default settings, it does run around 30-40 FPS, though for stability's sake, I would lock it to 30. It still does have some throttling, but ultimately, the game runs well and should be an enjoyable experience on the go.
Valve is going to be improving the ordering process for the Steam Controller starting tomorrow. This includes a new reservation queue, purchasing restrictions (1 per user), and must have a good standing on Steam with a purchase on your account prior to April 27th.
Ahead of its early access launch, we checked out the rhythm beat-em-up Dead as Disco, and it's not only an amazing game, but it's also quite awesome on the Steam Deck. It actually sticks to 60 FPS most of the time, which is essential for a game like this, and I fell in love with playing it this way.
April is over, so here are the top 20 most-played games on the Steam Deck throughout the whole month!
We checked out Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era ahead of its early access release, and it runs quite well on the Steam Deck. Expect 60 FPS during battles, while going around the map can range around 39 FPS - 50 FPS. Even at the lowest settings, it was still not able to hit 60 FPS on the map, so at this time, the most stable way to play will be with a 40 FPS lock on high settings.
There's no gamepad support yet, but it feels good to play with the KB+M control scheme.