Steam Deck Can’t Play AAA Games in 2023

[@FanTheDeck]

Use code FANTHEDECK50 to get 50% off your first Factor box at bit.ly/3OPkutN!

[@JDabz96]

Ngl factors amazing, I did it for a few months, my body never felt better and the food was so delicious plus so easy to make, just pop it in the microwave, I definitely recommend it, if it fits your budget that is.

[@jt3000o]

I actually have a question about it so I can't eat fruits or vegetables unless they're severely cooked my body can't digest them Is there a plan on factor that would work for me

[@JDabz96]

@jt3000o I'm actually not to sure, but you could possibly call them and ask, but you could also just overcook your meals to cook the veggies extra , or separate them and do it that way too

[@jt3000o]

@@JDabz96 thanks for the advice 👍

[@chicoriver8606]

Most of the games I have are couple years old and play well on the deck. Money is been tight the last couple years and to spend $60+ dlc isn't going to happen.

[@seste87]

If Armored Core, Starfield, and Hogwarts are running on the deck, you’re asking the wrong question. There’s nothing wrong with the hardware, the question is what studios are going to optimize their games for Deck. As we’ve seen, most are.

[@FanTheDeck]

Yeah I agree. I think the steam Deck is doing great

[@Matanumi]

Man.... forget the deck for a hot second.... What are Studios doing to optimize their games period....?

[@Fernando-ek8jp]

Optimization isn't magic, for one. For another, why not try to release and optimize for the switch? Where is the line? At what point is it optimal? 30fps set on low? Why not 20fps, as we used to accept back in the N64 days. I'm not saying that studios shouldn't try to optimize, but I think a lot of people think that "optimizing" is something that can be done in a straight forward fashion. There's a reason as to why games tend to get more visually impressive later in a console's generation, and there we're talking about platforms with user bases in the millions and relatively static hardware for close to a decade

[@JBentham1523]

30 fps all on low with fsr 320x240 is enough to say a game runs on deck. The truth is I love the deck but lack of power if frustrating asf

[@Fernando-ek8jp]

@@JBentham1523 Why frustrating? The selection of games that run well is astounding. I think the hype surrounding the deck as THE gaming handheld to keep up with the latest and greatest games was misplaced since it even came out. I guess the reason I am not frustrated about it is because I saw the deck as a backlog, indie and emulation beast, and on those use cases it absolutely rocks.

[@NeonPixels81]

Bruh as someone who grew up with a Game Boy, the Steam Deck feels like a literal dream in my hands. Console quality graphics at 30 fps for 2-ish hours, it literally never fails to astonish me every time I fire it up. I'm getting 25-30 fps in New Atlantis in Starfield, so the rest of game runs locked solid at 30. Very, very playable. It’s just amazing holding this kind of power in a handheld device that’s so comfortable and easy to use. I remember playing Link's Awakening on the Game Boy back when I was a kid, and thinking "how can games get any better than this?!"...man how times have changed. Gaming just keeps getting better and better!

[@WizardBarry]

i used to have a game gear, now i play cyberpunk on a slightly larger handheld. in bed, and they cry that it doesnt run 000000.1% of games etc lmao

[@christaylor4786]

I remember game gear! Feels very similar too huh? Much better ergonomics but it's close to the same size! Haha I remember playing power rangers and I think there was a pretty cool TMNT one too

[@lillpoetboy]

From the posts in this thread seems we all may be similar age group. Grew up with Game Gear as well and deck feels rather natural in my hands. Actually feels lighter then my game gear.

[@lillpoetboy]

That's how I felt when dreamcast first released. Resident evil Code Veronica was the game that said must buy dreamcast day 1, never seen a more amazingly looking game before that...

[@SuperMurphy1982]

Playing sonic on my Game Gear during my first plane ride ever as a child was amazing and 30 years later a Switch commercial showed Skyrim on a plane and I was like I remember that!

[@roblutter]

Valve's support is key to why the deck is so great. They've been great at updating the Proton software to optimize new games. It might not be able to run things at 1080p Ultra but I feel like the life cycle of this console is going to be a lot better than the competitors.

[@KingVulpes]

As someone who came from the 360p experience on switch, as long as the steam deck can run it, its good enough for me, i think people who complain about the steam deck are expecting too much from it considering you can get one for as low as $320!

[@smidlee7747]

Some are not just complaining about Deck but console games running at 30 fps.

[@FanTheDeck]

Yeah that's exactly my attitude. Kinda crazy that you can even reasonably run Starfield natively in your hands

[@fillerbunnyninjashark271]

Sub 45 fps isn't really running it

[@valley_robot]

@@fillerbunnyninjashark271if it’s stable 30 fps you wouldn’t care , pc gamers want frame rates that the human eye doesn’t even detect , what’s the frame rate of Netflix

[@fillerbunnyninjashark271]

@@valley_robot frame rate directly affects the latency of the input... The lower the frame rate, the greater the input latency... 30fps is to slow. Minimum should be 60. 120 there's no discernible input delay.

[@spaceman6_6]

I think moving forward PC games should have a baseline for playable like consoles. The steam deck can be a great baseline to help developers optimize their games. If it can run at 25 - 30 fps on low to medium settings then that'll be a huge step towards launching playable at launch games.

[@artsykilla]

This would also hold back games as we've seen throughout console generations

[@rowaystarco]

Valve should probably release a Deck 2 soonish, with an upgraded CPU, newer RDNA generation and so on. Seems like FSR3 frame generation will be pretty good on the ROG Ally (RDNA 3) as one example. @@artsykilla

[@Bootstrap_1]

No thanks. PC gaming already holds back the whole industry. We don't need this thing plummeting fidelity even further.

[@spaceman6_6]

@@Bootstrap_1 it's not about holding games back. It's about being playable at launch. PC gaming moves too fast and what do all the broken at launch titles have in common? They're only bearable on topline machines. A middle ground will be good for optimization. If you can run it at 25-30fps on low-medium settings on the steam deck as a dev, then you can be confident it'll run at an acceptable rate at launch. It saves your game from review bombing and players won't be mad at you for releasing a broken game. I don't know about you but I don't enjoy buying a game and waiting 6 months to 2 years before it is playable. 3060 is already getting outdated at this point 🥹

[@SWOTHDRA]

​@@spaceman6_6PC needs to move away from X86 and windows.....

[@Fernando-ek8jp]

I'm not worried about the performance of future games because I was never under the illusion that it'd be good for a main playing experience. 40fps is my personal acceptable minimum, and I know newer games struggle to hit that on the deck. I don't really mind though because the library of older, indie and less demanding games is huge on steam

[@clockwork204]

Also, not all new games are large scale graphical hogs. But yeah... if you play on portable, you can't be too greedy with your expectations, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

[@thewildnine40]

Newer games don't struggle. I play every new game that comes out on steam. Lies of p literally runs 60fps perfectly and it's not even out yet. Check it out if you haven't, it's like bloodbourne

[@thewildnine40]

Also, I played dead island 2 at 60fps low/med settings with high effects and textures.

[@programmer3138]

it's the console gamers that think Steam Deck is as powerful as mid-high end desktop gaming PC.

[@Fernando-ek8jp]

@@programmer3138 I actually think it's pc gamers who were over hyped about the performance

[@ShaunNZ7]

I recently finished my first playthrough of RDR2 on SteamDeck and had a blast. Similar to The Witcher 3 and Starfield the FPS drops near cities, but otherwise stays at a fairly solid 40FPS most of the time. I haven't played any games on my main PC since getting a SteamDeck early this year, and it doesn't look like it's going to change. I love it!

[@ryanmorton3841]

Given that so many AAA games are all over the place in terms of stable performance even on high-end PC rigs, it's kinda weird that the SD is being singled out for it, especially with the likes of Starfield, considering that Bethesda games have always been a technical mess regardless of platform. Personally, my SD is my go-to device for most things.

[@Theinvalidmusic]

I'm in the slightly weird position in that I'm *only* able to play Starfield on my Deck, it just does not work on my main rig at all. I've now played about 14 hours exclusively on the Deck, and honestly, it's totally fine. You can even push some settings quite high without any noticeable performance penalty. I'm honestly really impressed by how well it runs given it's bringing much, much more powerful gaming rigs to their knees.

[@edmac1090]

Why only on the deck? I’m super curious. Last summer I was in a situation where the deck was my only gaming PC since my office was being worked on.

[@honeybadger9425]

Which settings did you push high please mate? I’m playing on steam deck as well. People just don’t realise the Steam Deck has the latest AMD accelerator tech in and they just look at the specs in a traditional way.

[@Theinvalidmusic]

@@honeybadger9425 Indirect lighting

[@Theinvalidmusic]

@@edmac1090 The game locks me out of playing altogether on my main rig. Supposedly a driver issue, but have been entirely unable to fix it

[@DivusMagus]

Optimization would probably follow post launch for the stream deck but even if it doesn't the community will make a mod that optimizes the game.

[@FanTheDeck]

Yeah I'm honestly kind of impressed it runs this well already tbh

[@JM-dq7xn]

Modding community is already on it. You can already find mods that attempt to optimize game for Deck and in general. I can't say how well these work right now, but considering how much they were able to squeeze out of other games on this engine, I'm pretty optimistic

[@SonicDestiny]

why would you play AAA games on handheld with poor graphics and resolution if you can play it with so much more better resolution ,quality and fps on desktop? it is mean to be for less demanding games.

[@HisDivineOrder]

The reason they do early release is to 1) avoid Steam user reviews impacting day 1 sales, 2) push people that wouldn't otherwise buy the $100 premium edition, and 3) have the early word of mouth be only from diehards willing to pay $100 for the game who are likely more desperate to love the game. The more you think about it, the cleverer it is. Especially the lack of Steam user reviews.

[@PixelShade]

It would be amazing if Bethesda could put extra effort into lowering the quality levels of assets... Because you REALLY don't need nearly the same level of geometry on objects or characters on a 7" 800p screen (ESPECIALLY if you need to run FSR2 "Performance Mode" to achieve somewhat playable framerates). I can only hope for a paradigm shift in game development in the future where asset scalability starts to become more important in order to accommodate games on handhelds. Because currently we are basically brute forcing our way through these AAA games that are designed for 4K displays, literally throwing our performance out of the window at pixels we can't even see. I have a hard time considering the Steam Deck lacking performance, but rather that game graphics these days are ONLY designed for big 4K TVs/Monitors. Ultimately, even if Bethesda can't do the optimizations required. I hope there will be low-poly mesh mods in the future. :) and perhaps even disabling colission calculations between npcs and the main character (reducing CPU usage, sure people will clip through each other, but that's okay in my opinion). When walking around the world on my desktop PC I just feel like the world is WAY too detailed for a handheld device (same thing can be said about Cyberpunk and many other AAA games).

[@scarecrow9501]

Yes this comment i 100 percent agree with.

[@bland9876]

i have a 1080p monitor and if i still played games on my ps then i would want an oled with high frame rate and amazing colors over a 4k with bad performance.

[@jondasek]

But that's not really gonna give the CPU so much breathing room anyway, the CPU on the steam deck is pretty weak by today's PC standards

[@Y2Kr4SHM4N]

I agree with every thing you said, but I also disagree as well. Many of us game with AR glasses like the Xreal, which gives our mobile titles a 130 inch screen.

[@bland9876]

@@Y2Kr4SHM4N "many" lol if that product could be any nicher

[@treknobabble1701]

Been playing Starfield on deck with mostly medium settings and fsr set to 75%. With a 30fps lock through the deck its been a pretty great experience. dips to low 20s in the big hub cities, but in the action it sticks to 30 pretty well without looking hideous. A fair trade off imho, hope some more patches can get it nearer to a 30 lock across the board

[@eagle_rb_mmoomin_418]

yep that's what I've been doing.

[@user-it9xl1ls8c]

I lock mine at 28 fps and turn up some settings. Looks fantastic and u can't tell tye diff between 28 and 30 imo

[@gianlucaangeli]

you say "remnant 2 is a thumbs up" while showing a gameplay of it running at 22 fps ._.

[@IamDeadWing]

I never intended to use my steam deck for AAA games. That's for my overpowered PC.

[@FanTheDeck]

Totally understand that and can't be mad at that.

[@OnlyRealmatze]

I have an overpowered PC, an overpowered Laptop and a PS5 and still they’re collecting dust.

[@simonupton-millard]

Steam casting is a good way to play if you want higher framerates and unsupported games

[@gloriouskatatsumuri]

​@@OnlyRealmatzesame. Though I would not call my pc overpowered it is still vastly superior to the Steam Deck... Yet until BG3 my PC, PS5 & XSX all gathered dust in favour of my Steam Deck. Looking forward to trying the PS5 Portal too, I'm one of the very few people excited by that as PS5 Remote Play works amazingly on my phone and a dedicated handheld with an 8 inch screen and all the Dual Sense features is a win for me given how much I play Steam Deck!

[@123456789tube100]

YeS but some people dont have jt

[@TheDevilmayfart]

I use my steam deck primarily for emulation of ps2, dreamcast, gamecube, ps1, Nintendo ds, and psp games. Also for mid tier current gen games like the system shock remake and xbox 360/ps3 era games. For that the steam deck is a beast that will get better with more updates. Im happy using my Xbox Series S for current gen AAA games.

[@amit_patel654]

Same here. Lately I've been diving into PS2 titles on my Steam Deck that I missed out on during my teen years. I've been having more fun with that than modern AAA games. Games are just too long and padded these days.

[@TheDevilmayfart]

​@@amit_patel654May I give you some recommendations? Def Jan Fight for NY, Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3, and Giants Citizen Kabuto is a hidden gem :) I'm currently playing GTA Liberty City Stories the PS2 version.

[@user-bl4kt7iz3i]

@@TheDevilmayfartik u weren’t talking to me but thanks for those, i just got my steamdeck a few days ago and am loving the emulation on the device

[@amit_patel654]

@@TheDevilmayfart Thanks for the suggestions bro, I'll definitely check those out. I've got like 41 PS2 games on my Steam Deck so far and currently playing through Wild Arms 3. I thought I was approaching the end, but after looking up online, it turns out I'm only halfway through lol.

[@dreday1969]

@@TheDevilmayfartwhere can I find the steps for this

[@aaront8609]

Gotta say, I was a doubter of Starfield running well on SD but i am pleasantly surprised how well it runs outside of cities. Here's to hoping that it will only get better with time.

[@panamike6178]

so it runs like shit in the city? People need to give some time, give a few months and I'm sure it'll run with little issues. I had my doubts about other games, and they now run on the SD.

[@simest45]

FYI there are mods being released that can push Starfield down to stable but beautiful 30fps, just a very low setting found deep in the game's configuration files (ini 's).

[@FanTheDeck]

Looking forward to seeing how all this settles in the next few weeks and months

[@StingerAJ]

Yeah, please test Starfield with the performance-mod from A100N from nexusmods, as it has helped many with performance on PC. It replaces single graphics-options with lower-cost detail-settings, like smaller resolution for static shadows.

[@StingerAJ]

​@@FanTheDeck could you please test this performance-mod from A100N and do a video about it?It simply tweaks the default performance-presets and singular settings. If there is stutter, maybe something like "Battle Code Shirase" could be used (maybe "nice"-tool on linux) to lower the CPU-usage of Starfield.exe?

[@Dracossaint]

Yoooo im happy ya got factor as a sponsor! Lets go!

[@FanTheDeck]

I hope they come back! Not gonna lie - Factor is very convenient haha

[@liothesilverwing3016]

If you want a good AAA experience on a handheld, seriously, stream it. Let your high end PC do the heavy lifting as it was meant to for those sorts of games. Streaming to the Deck works incredibly well, whether with Steam Play or Moonlight, uses about 8W TDP no matter the game, and lets you run the game at a full 60. Yes, this is only a great option when at home, but I'd wager home is where people are using their handhelds the most, so don't just dismiss this option!

[@doberton]

I have gigabyte Internet wired to my PC and my steam deck is like 4 feet from my router and steam link sucks? Any ideas?

[@BlazeIgnis]

Seriously I just installed moonlight + sunshine. Now I can wake my pc though my steam deck stream a game on ultra and shutdown my pc again without leaving my bed.

[@josefknechtable]

@@doberton Bad router. For better expirience you need better wifi. Nowdays wifi 5 routers are not expensive, just buy one.

[@seeibe]

​@@dobertonI had the same issue, Moonlight/Sunshine fixed it for me.

[@FanTheDeck]

Streaming is always a great option.

[@RonOverdrive]

Let's be real here, AAA games are starting to run like crap even on Mid to High Tier Desktops requiring upscaling in many presets. While upscaling is great when needed (low tier PCs, Ray Tracing, and 4K), AAA devs are using it as a crutch to avoid optimization and its becoming quite obvious. The Deck like other Low Tier PCs is going to struggle.

[@distinctbutter9075]

More like "triple A developers refuse to optimize their games" I am getting 40-60fps on THE CALLISTO PROTOCOL! trust me. Optimization is the problem. Game quality is plummeting in recent years as far as performance goes. Obviously not all games but high profile triple A games seem to be incapable of releasing in a finished state and it makes me sad.

[@ulrick1043]

The question shouldn't really be can it play 2023 games...but rather why can't it? Graphically speaking none of the games that are coming out today are really that far off from games a year ago or even 2 years ago. Developers got so lazy due to the massive improvements that GPU and CPU technically leaped year over year, that they stopped optimizing anything. We basically just kinda got used to mediocrity and criticize the hardware rather than the engines around.

[@xxxRenzoKaixxx]

They also seem to forget that a good game doesn't necessarily mean it needs good graphics either.

[@ulrick1043]

​@@xxxRenzoKaixxx exactly, I can't tell when the last time I played a well written narrative story. Hell I'm back on my ps1 playing legend of dragoon for the nth time because most modern games are boring.

[@jaimerojas6578]

Man I tried playing Elden Ring in the SD and I tried a bunch of different settings and for the most part I managed to get stable 40 fps but in some parts of the map it gets under 25 and it does feel bad to play so I decided to just stream the game using Moonlight and the experience improved quite a bit, not to mention battery life is amazing streaming games, what I'm trying to get at is that SD experience is better with less demanding games and heavier more demanding ones have a better experience just streaming them imo

[@jcugnoni]

I am even playing DCS on the Deck. This is probably the most complex flight / combat simulator around that usually require a crazy big pc with HOTAS setup. Thanks to the Steam Input layer I managed to setup proper stick + mouse + multi mode button inputs + custom touch menu to fly single player mission from start to end in A10a or Su27 Flanker for example. Amazing to do that in bed or in the couch!

[@OurFantasyLife]

The way I look at it, the Steam Deck is basically a portable PS4 / PS4 Pro (or XBox One X). It gets around the same performance, but the difference is it gets that performance in a handheld device about the size of a Switch that I can take with me or stretch out in bed and play. That Metal Gear Solid V / Red Dead Redemption 2 era of graphics was perfectly fine for me, so if developers could make games closer to that level of graphics that run perfectly on the Steam Deck, I think we'll see a lot more PC gaming adoption sooner rather than later. Also as others have mentioned, if CDPR can get the notoriously broken Cyberpunk 2077 to run on Deck at a solid 40, and Death Stranding can run at 30, then its not the hardware. I mean, look at the Switch, a 6 year old phablet is running Hogwart's Legacy (not perfectly, but it's definitely playable). So it's a developer-side issue. The hardware has been standardized - now, they need to take the baton and run with it.

[@iSupermanCKi]

About 70% of my play through of Jedi Survivor was on the Deck at launch. It had some texture bugs but overall ran fine.

[@FanTheDeck]

It's one of those things where I'm content but I can't recommend it

[@JainaSoloB312]

Mine keeps crashing and I can't even get past the cutscene where you meet the Bedlam Raiders

[@seeibe]

Would be cool if you could do a video on streaming from your PC. I didn't realize how feasible it is until I tried Moonlight. 60 FPS Tears of the Kingdom on a handheld is kinda rad.

[@sudosecretformula]

This is what I do as well. No lag, good battery life, this has made the SD an unbeatable value.

[@HardWhereHero]

Yea i play on my phone this way. I used to play fallout 4 in bed on my phone when my pc was downstairs.

[@GreggyAck]

I’m playing Starfield on Steam Deck right now. It runs but it really doesn’t work well. You need to run the game on lowest settings at 75% resolution, with FSR and dynamic resolution on. Even with these settings, you won’t get anything close to a stable 30fps throughout. You’ll be ok in small indoor areas where there isn’t much going on. This isn’t a complaint about Steam Deck or Starfield, just what I’ve found. To be honest, comparing it to Witcher 3 on switch is very accurate.

[@Stig69]

You gotta mess with the settings a bit more. Changing the overall preset also changes hidden things. I noticed starting in medium and then reducing some things to low gave me better performance than just being on low. There's also textures and ini's optimized specifically for the steam deck now on Nexus. Edit: For Starfield

[@MelloSav]

After experiencing the magic of Elden Ring and Armored Core 6, I’m certain FromSoft will make whatever they’ve got next run well on the Deck. If Bethesda and Valve can get Starfield can get running well, I’ll be one happy camper. Now I just gotta 🤞🏿hope🤞🏿 that someday we’ll get the Demon Souls remake and Bloodborne and I’ll feel like I’ve gotten what I wanted out of the Deck

[@astrahcat1212]

Now, if AAA games were actually good, that'd really be a terrible thing.

[@TheCircuitChaser]

i love how you post this as someone makes a mod for starfield that fixes the performance by tweaking settings even further. definitely will see people playing on the deck now that the mod is a thing.

[@JChaosMaster]

One thing also to make note of is reminding people Steam Streaming is a thing. Connecting your computer to the steam deck and playing g game's that way. I mean you need good hardware and a good internet connection but playing that way does allow it to play even more demanding game's with all the steam decks nice thing like custom control/keyboard support. Plus saves battery life.

[@HairyBottom]

WiFi was never meant for gaming. Not to mention, the Steam Deck’s 5ghz band is having disconnect issues for people, including me, due to the second to the last update as of writing this, it’s causing issues. If the Steam Deck had WiFi 6, then I could see streaming to the deck as something you could do without a problem.

[@user-xe6sm4jv8f]

Implying everyone who have a Steam Deck also have a powerful gaming PC🙄

[@sharkpyro93]

why is everyone assuming that deck owners have a gaming rig at home? completely defeat the purpose of owning a Deck

[@JChaosMaster]

@user-xe6sm4jv8f Not really. Simply speaking out it is a thing that can be done. Almost all content I seen on the steam deck talks only about it's stand alone power. My comment was the steam deck does not need 100% stand alone.

[@Qrinity]

i blame developers for not doing enough to truly optimised games nowadays

[@ruffethereal1904]

Brute force over the hard work of optimization. It reminds me of how I'm constantly priced out of VR, though that has the excuse of being a niche in a niche.

[@FutureJacket]

*Publishers

[@robertsharp1511]

after updates the deck actually runs Starfield.... much better than i expected.

[@michealtheevilhero2340]

Meanwhile me who couldn't care less about AAA games anymore: "I missed the part where that's my problem"

[@Razen94]

Remnant 2 has been removed from verified due to the exceptionally poor performance. Would be great if you could add that in a comment.

[@emiliosanchez4610]

Great video and I wonder how well Valve and Bethesda are gonna be able to crank performance in the comming weeks and months. Shame about the walking around plants thing being as scaled back as it where :( Regardless of that this has been an amazing year in gaming. Here's to more to come! :D

[@FanTheDeck]

I'm really impressed with what the Deck is able to do. I don't need it to play every new release though it would be nice if it did. I have plenty of great games that it will play wonderfully

[@emiliosanchez4610]

@@FanTheDeck Agreed!

[@broklond]

Bethesda will have to implement much more granular graphics options. It's not just the steamdeck that can't run this game well. 3-4 year old gpu-s are also sitting on the strugglebus. FSR 3 will help with framerate for sure, but framegeneration doesn't fix the input latency of a low native fps...

[@InvalidUser_]

Mods are already out that make performance better for starfield without sacrificing anything. Bethesda is just lazy

[@drummer7557]

Being able to play current gen only titles like Dead Space Remakes, eventually Alan Wake 2, Starfield, A Plague Tale Requiem, among others is just a truly amazing feat. I play the Steam Deck way more than my consoles. tbh.

[@HoldMeForever]

I have to disagree with you there. If games run like crap and look like crap on the steam Deck BUT, they can reach a stable 30fps with a few dips with the help of mods and a several months of patches..... Then no, steam Deck can't run AAA. It's a technicality, no more. At this point, you and several other KZbinrs are just convincing yourselves. It runs like crap, looks very displeasing, runs very loud and you get 1-1.5hrs of battery life, which is terrible for the battery health.

[@norcalbowhunter3264]

Honestly I am shocked the games the Steam Duck can play. I can’t wait until they release another Steam Deck, but I think that’s going to be a ways down the road.

[@gloriouskatatsumuri]

Quack quack

[@Bear_Duck]

I really enjoy playing starfield on my steam deck. Obviously it’s not the best visual experience but it’s plays smoothly and I love being able pause the game and pick it back up at any time.

[@leonardodavinci7425]

I've heard Starfield is fairly meh

[@joker6558]

@@leonardodavinci7425it’s not

[@leonardodavinci7425]

@@joker6558 5.4 on metacritic

[@_nihilus7127]

I bought a deck specifically for bg3 and would recommend you give it another shot. It plays pretty damn well.

[@Sub5_77]

From all games you've been waiting for a STARFIELD?! LMAO

[@alinntd]

I got my deck at the beginning of the year, and so far everything I throw at it is an enjoyable experience. I'm really surprised at how well it handled everything, my only gripe is that I have to dual boot windows to play my gamepass games

[@zacfromArkansas]

How is your experience playing Gamepass games on it? Pretty good?

[@alinntd]

@@zacfromArkansas I've only tried hi-fi rush and persona 5 so far, they both run great

[@apersonontheinternet8006]

No you don’t, I have gamepass remote working through Edge and imported via desktop Steam.

[@alinntd]

@@apersonontheinternet8006 there was enough latency to make it not enjoyable for me

[@gatecityradio]

@@apersonontheinternet8006 I think they meant running on the Deck itself, not streaming.

[@OscarMarquez]

To increase performance, the developers should make a Linux native version using the Vulkan APIs. Like they do for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and others consoles.

[@Zer01neBDTDev]

Switch, PlayStation and other Consoles have Custom API, Deck is nothing more than a PC. Dev stopped Native Linux when they have seen their Game working better through Proton than the Native Version, even Doom Eternal don't have a Native Linux Version. So you can completely forget that.

[@JM-dq7xn]

Sad that people saying "Deck can't run 2023 games" often ignore absolutely amazing indie games though

[@xxProjectJxx]

Probably because indie games were never really in question. Of course the deck can run them, if you have a PC that was built in the last 10 years it could probably run whatever indie title you threw at it lol. The question has always been about the triple A because those are the most performance intensive.

[@JM-dq7xn]

​@@xxProjectJxx They are in question because they're are still good games and anyone who wants to get into PC gaming can enjoy them, without ever building one

[@xxProjectJxx]

@@JM-dq7xn I agree that they're good games. It's just that no one is curious or concerned over whether the deck can run them. We all know it can.

[@mattheinbaugh46]

I think everyone is forgetting about FSR 3 and their frame gen tech. That is going to be the best thing ever for the steam deck and every older gpu.

[@cleverwink8262]

If developers treated the deck like a console, I'm sure AAA gaming could be much better on Deck. If the Switch can run Witcher and Doom then surely new pc games can be optimized for Deck.

[@Zer01neBDTDev]

For that VALVE should have treated it like Console with 100% Custom OS with Custom API and not some Modified Linux Trash.

[@john314]

If VALVE had made a custom OS then there would be absolutely no games to run on the console. Starting with an already well tested and used OS was the best way to handle supporting games. If you don't understand how an OS and API's work, then you shouldn't call SteamOS trash. @@Zer01neBDTDev

[@Zer01neBDTDev]

They completely could design Proton around their Custom OS, yes it will take far more time and the OS won't run on Various of PC range but why i would car ? I will never replace my Windows for Linux so i would rather have a dedicated OS that only works on Steam Deck that i know every inch of the HW is used instead a Modified Linux that has an Always Outdated Kernel with Always Outdated KDE Desktop. The VALVE thing to target PC or even Steam Deck TVBox like people want is not interesting AT ALL. And trust me i know how OS and API work since i programmed on PSP CFW Hacking Scene.

[@cleverwink8262]

@@Zer01neBDTDev That's the best part is having Linux support via proton compatibility, No longer do we need to be shackled by Microsoft. We can be free to use whatever OS we want. Steam having a stake in Linux will be better for all.

[@Zer01neBDTDev]

@@cleverwink8262 But not in term of performance, Deck would be and always be a Low End PC with this mindset, and so he is outdated already and was outdated before release and no Games would be designed for it because there is no Dedicated API or OS for it and so, what you see on Switch and will see on Switch 2 would never happend on the Deck.

[@solm67]

Once again the Deck keeps on proving all the critics wrong. Excellent video as always.

[@DabstiX]

I have been using windows 11 for almost 2 years now and ive played basically all of the AAA titles with 0 issues.

[@Nocandoozy]

I have no doubt the steam deck will be smoothly running Starfield in a few months. We’ve seen this time and time again - “the steam deck is finally obsolete! Can’t play (insert game here) at launch!” And a few months later they’re running on the Steam Deck thanks to support. If people honestly think valve is gonna let their steam deck be known for the handheld console that couldn’t when it comes to Starfield they are out of your mind. This video was great. How many times didn’t you say “it wasn’t that great at launch but now it’s in the top 20 every month” Get ready to add Starfield to that list. There is nothing impressive about the game that would prevent the steam deck/Ally from running it aside from horrible optimization and memory leaks. Bethesda literally told reviewers to hold off on reviewing Starfield on the deck/ally. Wonder why

[@Kacper42PL]

In my opinion the Deck CAN run triple As, it's just a matter of how much the devs actually cared about optimization, which is a huge issue lately because of how powerful the PC parts have become and how much lazier devs are because of that

[@AstralPhnx]

I think generally it's important for people to keep their expectations in check when it comes to this stuff because like, this is a handheld PC for goodness sake, gotta keep your expectations in line and in check. The steam deck is incredible for what it is but it was never designed to do new AAA games at full resolution 60fps.

[@igonatangi]

Playing Starfield on Deck makes me nostalgic for childhood when i played Skyrim on a crappy laptop.

[@thedarkside3899]

The SteamDeck can play most games BUT the real question is how it will run those games. I am pretty sure they have to release a new version within the next 2 years.

[@ryuunorite]

Microsoft give me PC game pass access on Linux. I would play so much more if I had it there.

[@FanTheDeck]

Really would love this

[@lucasrijnders8987]

No doubt its just gonna run it

[@FanTheDeck]

Yeah that's definitely the thing to watch out for. Almost every game I looked at runs in some way but the performance is not always good.

[@xcruz7846]

I agree with the second screen statement, it pretty much is just as playing Baldur's gate 3, it is possible and comfortable to play on the SD when impossible to continue in main system.

[@Smuggers.]

"...I don't really understand releasing a AAA game into early access a few days before the official release..." Fan the deck, the point is to increase the relative value of premium edition and fleece people for more money by creating a problem and offering the solution. Want to play the game early? Pay up. Other people get to play the game before you? Pay up.

[@FanTheDeck]

😅 I did come to that conclusion later in the video but yeah - kinda crazy

[@Smuggers.]

@@FanTheDeck Yeah, fair, I saw that after posting. Always a bad habit of mine.

[@TheEregos]

It is literally just because of Game Pass. No one is being fucking fleeced, its an option.

[@seeibe]

If I could get people to pay extra to beta test my game for me I'd probably do it too

[@FanTheDeck]

@@Smuggers. no no it's no problem at all! I know some people click away too so it doesn't hurt for me to clarify

[@OnlyRealmatze]

I‘m playing recent games on Steam Deck and I am happy about it :) And as long as Lies of P runs well, that won’t change.

[@FanTheDeck]

Lies of P is gonna be so good!

[@InitialDL84]

That game is on my list that I'm looking forward to play, next to Sea of Stars. I'll be playing it on my PS5 though 😅

[@paul1979uk2000]

The real truth is, the Deck can't play a handful of triple A games, but the majority are still serviceable. I think many of us expected that as time goes by and developers start to take advantage of this gen of consoles, some games were going to struggle on the Deck, but I have to say, I'm surprised how well it's holding up, we are after all talking about running full-blown PC games on a portable device with limited resources and battery constrains, the idea it's running so many triple A games at all is quite remarkable. With all that said, triple A gaming on the go isn't something I would buy the Deck for, those kinds of games I would rather play on the big screen with the quality settings ramped up, for me, these portable PC gaming devices are more for byte size gaming, that you can pick up and go, play a little, put it down and play a little more awhile later, so basically, lighter indie games, that and emulators, that are the core reasons that I would buy any of these gaming devices and yeah it's nice it can do triple A gaming, but it's not where I would want to play them when I've got my own PC at home that I can play them far better than any of these portable devices. Also, as much as I would love to have more performance, I think Valve has the right approach on the Deck, they are aiming for a hybrid PC/console experience, with the openness of the PC and the ease of use of the consoles, being as it's a portable device, it means that battery life, ease of use and stability are far more important than having more performance like some rivals are offering and don't get me wrong, I would love to have that extra performance, but what Valve are aiming for is a fine life on battery life, performance and low price, what the rivals are offering is a generic PC in portable form, with all the problems that come with that, which I suspect is not appealing to many, especially console gamers that want to get into PC gaming, the Steam Deck offers an easy way in for those gamers. With all that said, Valve can't afford to take too long to release a Steam Deck 2, if the performance gap widens too much compared to rivals, Consumers will switch away from the Deck, especially if the price is close, personally, I think Valve has till 2025 to release a Deck 2, by then, new APU's should be out, rivals could very well release a ROG 2 and Legion Go 2, which by then, the performance gap could get too big that the Steam Deck doesn't look worth it any more unless they do a major price slash, which I do feel with the mid and high-end tier of the OLED models, they really should be a bit cheaper, because the price point is getting a bit uncomfortably close to the rivals whiles the rivals are offering far better hardware specs.

[@ccaa7674]

People forget that there's decades of PC games you can play on the deck. That's why I got it lol.

[@Kamel419]

Kindof annoyed with how we went from "the human eye can only see 24fps" to "i must have 120fps at all times with no dips". People need to chill and understand there's a place for both.

[@captainjimo]

Sorry, but Remnant 2 should not be considered playeable if it runs at 360p 20fps low settings. I have a bit higher expectations, so for me playable means 720p 30fps (maybe 480p 25fps for newer/heavier games, but it must be rock solid) settings can remain low with exceptions (red dead 2 ultra textures are a must)

[@diegosolis9681]

Starfield runs at 45 FPS in a 4090 when in New Atlantis.... If the Deck needs mods to run it at ultra low, then that means is the studio's problem. Saying that the deck can't play AAA games because of poorly optimized games, when it can run games like BG3, Armored Core or some other heavy hitters at medium-high at stable 30-60 FPS, is simply asinine. I have noticed that there's a huge group of people out there that seem to want the Deck to be bad, I don't understand why. And even if the Deck is not able to run games after some point, there's thousands that it can run, it's a handheld after all. The fact that it runs so many at it's price tag is nothing short of outstanding.

[@shippy1001]

The deck is a great handheld but you all have unrealistic expectations of its capabilities, it`s comparable to a low-budget PC, with emphasis on low budget

[@crazymcgee3604]

It's about keeping one's expectations in check. Running out of the box the Deck performs about as well as a mid-range PC from 2014-5 and can be adjusted through BIOS tweaks and software hacks to run a bit past that. Still, the Deck's battery speaks to what kind of games one should expect to play well on it: older titles that don't stress the hardware or smaller titles that can be played in 30-45 minute sessions and put down again.

[@supremesonicbrazil]

Games industry: "Steam Deck can't play our AAA blockbusters" Also games industry: Makes the 109th carbon copy of a 3-digit GB sandbox nobody asked for, prices it 70 dollars without regional pricing for the rest of the world because "it isn't enough anymore", and expects everyone has a freaking quantum physics-enabled GPU at their houses to run it so they won't have to care about actually optimizing their game to begin with (and if anyone complains about it, use the FSR/DLSS crutch to justify further bloating it) Seriously, this is why I only play indies and retro emulation nowadays. The "industry" is a fucking joke and I really want it to crumble under its own weight so we don't have to deal with those consumerist shit takes they shove down our throats every month.

[@juanramon2304]

Got my deck a couple days ago and I’m still learning how to tweak it and I’ve been thinking about getting this. I just don’t know if I should wait till it fully lunches or just get it now.

[@Saul50489]

I’m kind of the same situation. If you’re not in rush to play it, I would say you wait until release or a bit longer. Soon or late Bethesda will release an optimisation file

[@IcyXzavien]

I would love to have gotten Jedi Survivor, but that file size is too big.

[@battenburg6089]

If you’re buying a HANDHELD and are expecting a game to handle AAA quality, graphics and whatever, then you’re a fool. It’s not for that.

[@drummer7557]

It handles more AAA titles than you can imagine and many current gen only titles, and will continue to do so. Within reason, not at 60 fps or anything. But it does much better than even Ps4, which can't even play most of these games at all. SD is an amazing device and I play mine way more than my actual consoles. lol. Who would have thought? Games look amazing on it's small screen even at 800p!!

[@TackerTacker]

I don't really play AAA games, but I'm still very impressed of all the games you can run on the Deck

[@mindaugasstankus5943]

Nothing to be impressed, bunch of AAA titles (not only) have problems running on recommended spec machines on release... even after day/week-1 mega patching and similar. Setup lottery these days, more like having PC build not for a game, but game build for your PC setup.

[@ingramli7733]

Some folks are just having unrealistic performance expectations on gaming handheld. It is not impossible to put a powerful SoC on it, the problem is to feed it, and take care of its heat. The real obstacle for better performance is battery technology, you may increase the TDP limit to 30~40W like ROG Ally did with the 7840U, but the battery won't last an hour, and if u want to keep the weight in control, you will end up a device meant to be plugged to the wall most of the time. Travel friendly? Yes. Portable? I guess not.

[@Dizzy-Luc]

When I see some comments saying 30 FPS is unplayable, while games like Final Fantasy VII had 15'ish FPS in their combat screens on PS1. (or Goldeneye running so badly sometimes, even though it was a classic N64 game) How to tell someone was born after 2000. (considering even in 2003'ish times I got a used copy of MGS1 on PS1 in EB Games, years after it's release, so it's not like you had to be a 90's person to buy games from older consoles...) I feel like Gamestop didn't stop selling retro type games until 2008'ish (only to be kinda brought back later) makes me feel like kids that even grew up more in the 2000's could have a chance with some of those retro games... so anyone who complains about 30 FPS games being unplayable... really feels like they are coming from the new generation. (I love 60+ FPS in games due to fluidity obviously, but to say 30 FPS is unplayable... is just nonsense) Honestly, the only time "teen" FPS should be considered unplayable IMO would be if playing an online game, considering someone with better framerates will most likely play much better than the person with low frame rates. (I will admit, the new Pokemon games feel near unplayable when compared to their previous Switch game though, as going back to it the other day felt *a lot* faster in comparison... something "odd" to say for a game that came out later with similar power kinda)

[@votch2798]

Important thing to mention is that Starfield runs poorly on top of the line high-end machines too. Imagine having a 40-series nvidia card or a Series X and not being able to hit 60 without upscaling. The elephant in the room is that Starfield (and many AAA games coming out now) are poorly optimized in general. I would love it if developers and publishers all collectively took a step back and optimized their games for the average PC. We're at the point where games look 5% better than 5 years ago, but are 100% more demanding (citation needed).

[@spacedaniel492]

Lmao I love the steam deck and the community around it, but some of y'alls expectations are too high. We're still talking about a handheld, the fact that it cant run EVERY "next gen" game doesn't really bother me. My deck is my emulation machine/ps4 port player/general third person game machine. It excels at 90% of the games you throw at it given its form factor. I do think that Starfield is a game that ought to be able to run fine on deck, but yall are acting like if you can't play one game on deck then it ruins the whole device, not really living according to the idea that the deck is a companion device for your actual PC.

[@KyleS.1987]

I don't need the Deck to run 2023 AAA games well, to be honest. Although it does handle Diablo 4 very nicely. I'm using mine essentially as an emulation and backlog machine, playing games that released up until about 2020, and it does that brilliantly.

[@unixtreme]

Exactly I’ve been playing divinity original sin 2 and it runs beautifully

[@xxProjectJxx]

Starfield performance isn't great right now no matter what platform you're playing on lol, so I wouldn't hold that against the deck. That said, I can see why some people are disappointed with the deck's performance when it comes to triple A releases. It was already underpowered on release, and it only gets more noticeable with every major release. Even the games that perform well on Deck still tend to come with caveats. I think most people understand the deck's limitations going in. I certainly did. And it's pretty capable for the price. But it is still limited, and you really feel that when you try to push it

[@the_holy_waffle]

The deck is the only way I can play Starfield. But now I’m thinking about a new pc to go along with this epic steam library I own now

[@bland9876]

That's funny I don't own a single game on that list 11:36.

[@minisithunknown5568]

I have been enjoying Starfield on the Steam Deck. I am getting 25-30 FPS which is enough for me. I changed some setting to make it look a bit better than the first time I tried and now it looks good on the small screen. If I want to play it on a bigger screen I just boot it up on my main PC rig.

[@conradsmith9441]

Everyone judges me for getting my Steam Deck OLED saying I should have just got a really good laptop that can play pretty much all games. It could just act and look like a good NORMAL computer too. There are times I wonder if I should have done that. The thing is the portability and ease of use especially when casually gaming is what drew me in to the deck. Using Windows 11 is not as convenient when gaming as the console-like feel of the deck. While other handhelds perform a bit better and play more games, they are much more expensive and a pain to use because of Windows 11 making things annoying.

[@BrianJones-wk8cx]

My tastes tend to lag behind the rest of the world, as I’m still playing PC games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, NBA2K16, Witcher 3, and Streets of Rage Remake on Steam Deck, while also remaining entrenched in emulation of classics and bouncing back and forth on the recently released Red Dead Redemption between my Switch and my Deck. I don’t expect the Deck to crush every modern title, though I can certainly understand how some buyers want broader compatibility and longer relevance in the AAA space. I like the idea of comparing Deck AAA experiences to Switch ports, it really helps to expectation set. I still fire up Witcher 3 from time to time on my Switch and marvel at just how well it runs. The experience pales in comparison to my overclocked Steam Deck, but it’s still impressive to see how well it runs. Though the Deck has a lot of relevance in other sectors, I think considering it as a stand-in Switch for AAA gaming moving forward makes sense.

[@Kyderra]

I think a big trend that may ruin new games from the current steamdeck is that AAA are dependent on AMD FidelityFX or DLSS upscaling as a crux for their bad optimization. Games are basically running at half the resolution. Hell, I can't even run Starfield on a RTX 3090 above 60 fps without DLSS on. I hope it wont make the steamdeck dated as time goes on.

[@brandonkoh8361]

I think the thing is that you can barely play AAA games from 2023 on the steam deck. Even if you can, youre forced to play below 60fps which for some people is unacceptable. Add on to the fact that the general trend for AAA games is that they get more and more demanding every year, and I think its reasonable to expect the steam deck to not be able to play AAA games from now on. That being said, the steam deck is a very widely sold pc/platform and I think will be the new benchmark for the lowest settings for AAA games. Most games are sold on the steam store, and im sure valve is going to at least encourage people to optimize it for the steam deck, whether its by asking them directly or providing developers the tools and support to do so. Secondly, the speed at which hardware has been improving has basically stagnated. Most improvements over the years have been very marginal. I have a more than 5 year old gaming computer and I can run most games at high-ish graphics at 100hz min. Moore's law doesnt apply anymore and we're getting to the peak possible computing power per dollar with our current type of technology. Until gaming companies can figure out how to make an entirely new and different technology work, kinda like how combustion engines have overtaken steam engines, we wont see a return of moore's law. Thus we can expect the hardware requirements of AAA games to plateau. Considering that the steam deck can run 2/3 of AAA games in 2023, most hardware isnt going to improve that much anyways and the fact that steam deck is becoming more mainstream and popular, we can reasonably expect that more and more AAA game companies will at least try to make its game playable on the steam deck.

[@elconquistador9667]

Why are the requirements so high? The game doesn't even look that good. It's basically just fallout 4 graphics. Cyberpunk looks better than this and it can get a higher framerate on the deck.

[@ninjason57]

Can a 60 year old play professional football? Sure, but not well. When it does perform "well" it lasts for 30 min tethering you to the wall. It's all possible, if you're willing or need to play that way.

[@MrLou2serious]

Running and running well are 2 different things. I was going to buy a Deck but I'm not interested in playing in 28-30fps on low settings after paying $400 plus for the device

[@eagle_rb_mmoomin_418]

🤷 welp you ain't going to be buying any PC handheld then. Deck is the cheapest one that isn't hopeless. In the UK Decknis £350. The Ally at £700 is the next option. So double the price for about 30% perf improvement when you run at 18ish Watts which has battery life implications.

[@MrLou2serious]

@@eagle_rb_mmoomin_418 You're right I won't be buying any of them. I was curious but the price of these handhelds are too expensive for what they offer.

[@eagle_rb_mmoomin_418]

@@MrLou2serious you have to ignore the PC MasterRace leanings with these handhelds. Unless you dock them and give them loads of power (when they support this) 60fps on a modern AAA title isn't happening. They are 30fps-40fps devices in the main. The deck is a low settings machine. The Ally is a medium settings to selected high settings machine. The screens are so small with high pixel densities that it does'nt matter as much as you think. On the other hand having a portable PS4 or PS4 Pro in your hand playing on a plane etc isn't something to sniff at. They will run titles at 60fps but you're looking at last gen titles or indie/AA titles.

[@c-bvibes5046]

I sold my 512 for $400, saved up for a minute, and got myself a GPD WIN 4, 32GB ram & 2tb SSD for a clean 1k. This thing is my handheld as well as my main pc at home 🤣🔥

[@9r33ks]

I find it hard to play games below 60fps not because I'm a snob, but because I'm old, and sub 60fps literally hurts my eyes. When I was a teen, I used to play FarCry at 25fps, and I was perfectly happy with the performance. Yes, the FIRST FarCry game from 2004, when it released. :D

[@doublinx2]

Tbh even powerful and mid range rigs are struggling to run AAA games. Hopefully later on this decade when we slowly migrate to 3xxx/rx6xxx and the major corporations release less games by necessity we can get to a more stable equilibrium. As for me, my Deck is the Valve Switch. I play what I can get, take compromises where i can, and just enjoy that i can even play my library on the go at all. Fingers crossed that AMDs next collab with Valve will nail the 20w *and* 5-10w.

[@gophermaster]

The baldurs gate 3 performance complaints are hyperbolic.

[@poison7512]

No way.. the sub $400 handheld wont be able to run every AAA game that comes out in the future? Crazy.

[@ronaldomanzoli3964]

Steam Deck is my only machine right now. I intend to "upgrade" next year, but right now I'm really enjoying it, despite yeah not being the most powerful thing i love steam OS, and it's going to be the most missed feature once i switch to another PC handheld. I've trying going windows with the deck 2 times already and i end up going back to steam OS, such a user friendly and hassle-free experience ( playing steam games).

[@Kuwagatamushi]

I sidestep issues with playing intense AAA titles by streaming them from my PC via Moonlight, even when I'm away from home. I also have a 64GB Deck from the recent sale, so it's the only way I can feasibly play anything that heavy at the moment. As long as the AAA games scale well with lower settings, the Deck will hang in there until whatever Valve releases next.

[@AtPlume]

I hate to be that person that's going to say this... _but there is more to gaming then AAA games._ I never bought the game with AAA games in mind, that would be foolish to do. The Deck never promised to be optimized for AAA games in the years to come, hence the verified system, and with the lack of effort put into PC ports, where even the beefiest PCs struggle to run the latest game... I find it kind of annoying that people keep on crapping on the Steam Deck for poor performances, like it's its fault if optimization isn't done for this machine or for PCs in general. It's like with every other game release we get another debate about the longevity of a 400$ dollar handheld PC... That being said. I do blame Valve for the amount of verified games that run poorly though, clearly their verification needs some work. All though, as far as I know, for now, Starfield is not verified or whatever. So... we'll see. But like, you gave a thumbs up to Remnant 2, a verified game, while showing footage of it running at like 22 fps. I think that tells the whole picture about the Verified badge. As for the rest. I bought the Steam Deck for a lot of reasons and playing solely AAA games wasn't one of them. And I would never advise anyone to do so for this purpose. It can and will run some AAA games at 30 for years to come, granted proper PC optimization and if we're lucky, some Steam Deck optimization. But, for that it would require PC ports to have some work put in to them. Hell, just optimization work in general, it's not like the consoles have been spared from atrocious performances either, so... :/

[@FanTheDeck]

There's so much more than AAA gaming and I honestly spend most of my time outside of AAA

[@VisturgAkter]

ue i made this exact same point. the entire steam deck costs some 400 dollars, that is the price for an entry level gpu ALONE, it's silly to think it could run everything even if games had great optimization in the first place. also, battery life is a concern, i mean a portable system isn't worth much if the battery lasts roughly 70 minutes. my deck has helped me discover a bunch of smaller games that i would have otherwise ignored, and im sure there are thousands of games i am yet to discover. and if we put emulation options too, the steam deck offers enough entertainment value to last a lifetime