You could argue that Starfield might be one of the biggest releases in years, and chances are you’ll be playing it for a while. Starfield on Steam Deck means that you can take your sci-fi adventures with you on the go and pick up where you left off from your gaming desktop without missing a beat. Thank you, cloud saves!
Starfield unlocked on August 31 for Premium and Constellation Edition owners. The game is categorized as playable on Steam Deck, however, it is not yet Steam Deck Verified, the highest stamp of approval from Valve that designates games that play well on Deck “right out of the box.”
Starfield’s “playable” status on Steam Deck, in other words, means that you might have to do a couple of things to get it working well. I had to do a handful of tweaks to get it running on the handheld PC, and even then, I struggled to play at more than 25 fps most of the time (see more detail on Steam Deck settings for Starfield below).
Once I finished tweaking the settings, Starfield did run reasonably well on my Steam Deck: The text is mostly readable, the controls work, and the battery life isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
How to run Starfield on the Steam Deck
After that, I could get past the start menu and actually load a save.
Best Settings for Starfield on the Steam Deck
But should you play it on a Steam Deck?
I wouldn’t make the Steam Deck my primary way to play Starfield, but if you need to sneak in some ship battles or item crafting (particularly over this Labor Day holiday weekend in the US), it’s an option. Popular games on Steam sometimes get improved Steam Deck compatibility over time, but it’s worth noting that Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 are not Deck Verified, which might mean that this is the most we should expect from Starfield, at least in the near term.
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