Steam Deck may have compatibility issues with a number of popular games

https://www.gamesradar.com/steam-deck-might-not-run-destiny-2-apex-legends-and-more/

The Steam Deck might not be able to run Destiny 2, as well as slate of other popular online games.

As first noted by PC Gamer earlier today on July 19, this appears to be an issue with the Steam Deck's operating system. As the Steam Deck will use the Linux-based SteamOS, some online games like Destiny 2 will be prevented from booting up properly due to anti-cheating software.

As PC Gamer notes, this is all according to ProtonDB, a site that claims the Steam Deck won't be able to run Destiny 2, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Playerunknown's Battlegrounds. These are some of the most popular games on Steam right now, and they all run the risk of being unable to run on the forthcoming Steam device.

However, there's a major caveat to this. Valve states on the official Steam Deck website that the device carries a new SteamOS, one which they're working to improve. Valve says that "we're vastly improving Proton's game compatibility and support for anti-cheat solutions by working directly with the vendors," so there is a chance that the Steam Deck's operating system could be updated to bypass this barrier presented by the Linux-based OS.

Elsewhere however, Valve previously stated that the Steam Deck comfortably "runs the latest AAA games." At the core of the new device there's a AMD Zen 2 APU working away, along with quad-core Zen 2 CPU running at 2.4 - 3.5GHz, 8 RDNA 2 CUs running at 1 - 1.6GHZ for the GPU, and 16GB of RAM all in all.

Oh boy. All that talk about Steam library in your pocket and now we see this. Hopefully it will be resolved. The last thing you want to see is an angry Steam fan.

You'd need big fucking pockets for one of these.

This thing is gonna flop so hard. It looks SO uncomfortable to hold and looks huge, 2 hour battery life, horrible button placement, etc etc.

Its like the Steam Deck is warning you to not play shitty games like Destiny 2. We should thank Steam instead of complaining.

Its a non issue considerig you can wipe the photonOS and install windows.

How many games are compatible when a new console launches?

Also you won't have to worry about Ubisoft games, as they no longer appear on steam.

Thank Gaben.

Tell that to the average consumer who just want things to work. This is like a flop in the making if you think average person cares about this!

Seems easy enough for them to fix before launch. When does this thing release?

@SolidGame_basic: what makes you think the average person wants to spend half a grand on a handheld PC? What makes you think a PC gamer wants their hardware to be locked down and games to run at non-customizable settings? It's a niche product that will sell just fine to its target audience.

Well, they did say you can install Windows on it.

The real problem might be that those games are updated very frequently, which might create new unforeseen compatibility issues with the Wine fork SteamOS uses. A reminder: Wine is 28 years old, and is an ever-ongoing work.

The same is true for the Switch though. Which is why I've also never seen a Nintendo Switch being carried or played by anyone in public.

This has to be a SW thing where people keep comparing SD to the Switch.

They aren't being marketed to the same consumers.

Steam Deck won't sell anywhere near the Switch buy it isn't intended to. It's aimed at the 120m+ Steam users who want to take their games on the go, so maybe 50m users at best. They'll sell 5m and be ecstatic with it because it'll spawn copy cats and boost their Steam revenue.

That's their goal here. Nintendo is aimed at the "average gamer", the same gamers that prefer console over PC because of simplicity.

Those gamers are unlikely to buy a PC, no matter how console like you try to make it because PC gaming is about choice, upgrades, tinkering, mods, etc.

Its going to be a real eye opener for people expecting to play their full list flawlessly.... But Im pretty sure the people buying this already knows what goes into PC gaming and sometimes you need to do a lil work to get something running right.

Games on switch are catered to the slimmed down CPU and a lot of sacrifices are made to run great and smoothly for the users. These sacrifices are not always availble in the standard display settings. Unless developers get on board and make steam deck optimizations, you will get a ton of clunky games on here.

But thats ok... like I said before, this thing only needs to run about a third of my steam list to be a success. The indie scene will be great for this system.

So who is this audience? According to a recent SW Poll, only 5% of gamers mostly game on handheld. This is starting to sound like Game Gear territory.

I mean if this is going to be an indie thing, Switch has you covered.

Those are quite literally the last games in the world I would play on any mobile device. No loss there, though I am sure some would be disappointed if this turns out to be true.

Is that a burn? That seems like it was a burn? Burn unit to SW!

On a serious note, this is also true: never seen a single soul with a Switch in public. Saw someone pull one out at work because he brought specifically to show it to me, but that's about the only time I've seen one "in the wild".

@navyguy21: @enzyme36: to be blunt, I think a number of people on here are making up a competition specifically so this new gadget can lose it. The messed up part is a lot of these individuals aren't even Switch fans - so they really aren't even trying to "win," per se, but want to see a device fail. And apparently if you are interested in it you're a "Steam fanboy" now, rather than someone who genuinely wants to put the tech to use

I guess that's SW...

Yeah I would definitely install windows on it. Proton sucks balls. But average Joe doesn’t know how to re-install OS

Haven't used proton then? https://www.protondb.com/

Majority of games run very well, Valve will make it even better by December. Besides this article is about anti-cheat systems, people should read it. The article is kind of click bait.

GS loves toxicity, only website that runs on it.

@SolidGame_basic: the audience is not you. That's clear. You spend more time hating on other people's shit lately than anything else

It's not so much of a burn as an observation. I think the portability mode on the Switch is extremely overhyped and overstated and that most people trying to copy the Switch, and even Nintendo themselves have completely missed the point on it. That it's not the gimmicky portable mode people buy it for, but because it's the first Nintendo console since the Gamecube that allows you to play all their top exclusive IPs with the comfort of a normal controller.

@xantufrog: you seem to suggest that people don't have legitimate concerns about the product. I had a reservation but canceled because I'm just not all in at this point. But if the reviews are good I'll reconsider!

That's not what I mean - though. "flop flop flop not a console flop looks like a gamegear and not a big ballin' winner flop"

That's what I'm reacting to. I have zero interest in an XBox, but it doesn't mean it has no value to someone else. You may have no interest in this because it's not a console. But that doesn't mean it has no value to PC gamers who want something in this form factor.

The GameGear is awesome, btw. I have two - one I modded with an LED backlight

Thankfully I've played all of those games already and stopped playing them. I'd never play them on a PC platform anyways. Steam Deck is still a go for me at this point for Steam, non-console games. May still give up my reservation though. We'll see.

Who cares if it can't handle some games. As long as it beats Nintendo, that's all I care for.

Turns out all game footage was off games installed on a micro sd card.

@xantufrog: The game gear was trash, the screen was a washed out mess, the battery life was horrible, and it's list of games was pretty small with an even a smaller list of good games...damn that does mostly sound like the steam deck.

@vfighter: cool beans

Complete bullshit, steam is working on getting anti cheat solutions with developers and also u can install windows on it which makes it a non issue.

And yet, despite all of its flaws, I personally like and enjoy the Game Gear when it came out even though it was ahead of its time. As far as Steam Deck goes, I may not be sold on it day one, but I'm sure it'll do just fine as it's clear both you and SolidGame aren't the target audience.

I'll consider a purchase next year after I read everyone's reviews hand-on.

As soon as I get mine I'm installing windows and all of my game launchers.

I have no use for SteamOS but the idea of a portable gaming PC that can actually fully function as a real gaming device speaks to me.

Getting the base model and installing a 1TB nvme

Everyone who knows what a Steam Deck is understands what you're talking about is a non-issue.

@davillain-: @xantufrog:

When it comes to games, I'm always the audience 😎

This info is useless steamdeckers are gonna buy it and pre order it no matter how many games don't work on the system.

I'm out on it and im dedicated hand held gamer from the early 90's

@SolidGame_basic: your posting history says otherwise.

@SolidGame_basic: Jokes on you alone cause I'm not getting a Steam Deck🤭 I'm just pointing out Steam Deck is targeting for those who really want a portable PC.

Why? Because I said the average person doesn't care about installing Windows on their Steam Deck? I mean, I would think Valve would want to create a machine that's accessible as possible. I'm not buying the whole 'it's just for hardcore Steam people' argument.

@SolidGame_basic: no, because you aren't interested in PC or PC games. You want PCs to become consoles and if they don't they will flop. It's fine, it's SW. It is what it is. But you're no manticore and this being a PC... yeah. It's not for you

I'm buying it still since I like new tech.

Not sure if you're messing with me, but 485 games in my Steam library says otherwise 😄 Anyway, I would be glad if Steam Deck succeeds. Like I said earlier, I the $700 was just too much for me for something that is still up in there at this point. But if gets good reviews, it will have my attention!

@SolidGame_basic: how would I know how many Steam games you have? Like I said: just going off your posting history. It's all I have to go off. Sure seems like PC gamers suck. Besides you have recent posts explicitly making my point - you come out and say if PC gamers want a mobile platform they have laptops, and that this should be something different.

It's fine - I like you, you're a good guy. I'm not being a "moderator" right now - just having an argument (just so we're all on the same page)

people don't buy things based on logic, otherwise apple would be a lot poorer than they are today. Most of the time these purchases are emotional...and yeah valve will sell a shit ton of these to people. I'm thinking in the tens of millions. I welcome our new console dude.

I'm also old enough to remember the nokia ngage. It was a flop and got trashed by the GBA back then, but it still sold 3 million units according to google. Deck will do much better.

In a way it's just like the Switch.

Nokia N-Gage I can understand, it didn't work as a cell phone because you had to hold it sideways to dial it and then hold it the other sideways to talk. It didn't work as a gaming handheld because you had to take the battery apart just to change games. Nokia N-Gange had a cool idea, just poorly executed and Nokia was so detached from reality even then that it's a miracle they lasted as long as they did going forward. But when Nintendo launch GBA SP, that was the final nail in the coffin cause the SP was a drastic upgrade. But yes, Steam Deck will be just fine cause its targeting for those who want a portable PC experience.

(Also, my old Nokia N-Gage is buried somewhere at my mom's house)

True, just like Nintendo Valve isn't making any games.

Correct. Still one of my fav consoles.

The argument above about the screen is nonsense, at the time it absolutely shat on the Gameboy, and it wasn't even close.

One of the most conformable handhelds as well. Got the Master System Converter, TV tuner. The dopeness cannot be understated.

Certainly it had a limited library, but back then it wasn't like it is now. Kids were lucky if they had 7 games compared to the 1000+ regularly seen in a Steam library now.

That and the battery chomping, but that's more symptomatic of its day.

The fact vaguly Steam Deck looks like one, yes.

Def hold this than a Switch brick.

The Switch was so uncomfy to hold had to buy a plastic mould add-on that basically shapes it like a Game Gear.

It is going to have compatibility problems of some kind. The library is both vast and very varied.

Wine/Proton is a minor miracles. they manage to get games running in an environment they were never tested or developer to run in yet lots of games do play very well. Its a bit like MS making a compatibility layer to run PS5 games on the XSX.

The main hurdles for those games are DRM and Anti cheat (more so the latter). its been a long known issue but the fix is not trivial. Another common problem i have seen is developer using codecs that wont run on anything but windows officially for their videos.

Hopefully valve, the OS community and the anti cheat developers can reach some sort of working solution. but we shall see.

I use Linux for most of my PC gaming (currently playing Ys IX) and its generally great. but its not the smoothest experience. Just in the case of Ys IX it required setting a startup argument for the game. its trivial to do (drop some text into a text field in the properties window for the game) but it had to be done. the game would crash after 10 mins of play otherwise. a newbie would need to know about protonDB, check it, paste the text into the field then start the game.

maybe this new version of proton has a major breakthrough but as of right now there will be compatibility problems and tweaks needed to get things running well. anyone expecting to just play any PC game on the deck day one is setting themselves up for disappointment.

Ideally developers would at least test their windows builds against proton too (a Linux native port would be the best but we need to be realistic about that at the moment).

I wonder could they make a system that applies recommended tweaks automatically when trying to run a game through proton.

But yeah: especially in the early days do a quick check on ProtonDB before buying a game to play on the deck is you intend to use proton.

Wow, what a big reveal that SteamOS (Linux) doesn't fully support all games on Steam. Have people been living under the rock until this article? TC is getting more and more bu*thurt over PC and Steam as time passes.

ngage was actually really powerful back then, the specs were double or triple what the GBA was capable of. I can't even remember though. End of the day, nintendo smacked them hard. The biggest challenger to nintendo so far was the PSP OG...and if you can remember that, it really slapped nintendo, and pushed nintendo right to the end.

Now its the deck...I really like the concept, and I think it will sell millions, but at the end of the day, you can do everything it can do on a laptop and not spend so much $$ on a deck. This feels less than a specific system challenging nintendo, but a new class of device in the ultra portables. I mean we had laptops > think laptops > netbooks > ultrabooks > chromebooks > tablets > now handheld.

I'm not sure how popular this portable thing will be. Honestly, this new form factor has a real potential to deal nintendo a big blow. If it gets bad enough, nintendo can easily dominate again, by releasing their own custom portable pc in a handheld and modifying it to also play nintendo games.