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Can you play Starfield on Steam Deck?

Houston, we have a handheld problem.

www.gamesradar.com

Leaked day-one patch notes suggest that Valve will class Starfield as ‘Playable’ on Steam Deck when it lands, and it should play nicely with the Asus ROG Ally too (via Insider Gaming). At the moment, the game’s storefront page lacks any indication of handheld compatibility, but the insider documents hint that a badge could pop up on September 4th.

As for why Starfield won’t be Verified on Steam Deck, the leak offers some insight into Valve’s rumored verdict. The notes mention a ‘virtual keyboard’ meaning interface issues likely aren’t to blame. That suggests it’s performance that’s keeping the RPG from the ‘Great on Deck’ list, as while you can technically play Starfield on Steam Deck, you’ll probably experience some frame rate turbulence.

There are a few things you can do to encourage better Starfield Steam Deck performance, and we’ve got a few tips to share. Just keep in mind that you won’t be able to miraculously play at 60fps+ just by tweaking settings, but you’ll still be able to ensure everything is optimized for the handheld:

• Select a ‘low’ graphics preset (you can always crank things back up later).
• Turn on AMD FSR 2.0 upscaling in the settings menu.
• Stick to the Steam Deck’s 800p native resolution.
• Consider using ‘Half Rate Shading’ in the Deck’s settings.

You won’t necessarily have to do all of the above to boost fps in Starfield using the Steam Deck, but each step can facilitate higher frame rates. Half Rate Shading in particular can really take the load off, but it can result in pixelated visuals depending on the game.