Can you play Remnant 2 on Steam Deck? Cloud save warning, explained

Are you curious about playing Remnant 2 on the Steam Deck? The highly anticipated sequel has arrived, and the Steam Deck is an excellent device to play it on. However, Valve has not yet verified Remnant 2, so you may wonder if you can play it on the Steam Deck or consider using another platform, such as a traditional PC or console. This is a valid concern, and I aim to provide you with as much information as possible about the performance you can expect and a critical aspect that may influence your decision to try it or not.

Can you play Remnant 2 on Steam Deck?

Image: PC Invasion

Yes, you can play Remnant 2 on the Steam Deck, but be prepared for occasional lag spikes during moments with heavy environment conditions or many on-screen enemies. In addition, Remnant 2 does not have cloud saves implemented now, meaning you cannot use the same save file on your Steam Deck and PC if you plan to play on multiple devices. Finally, if you let your Steam Deck’s battery go below 20%, these lag spikes will happen regardless of your settings, so ensure you are watching your battery indicator.

The Best Remnant 2 Steam Deck Settings

I enjoyed playing Remnant 2 on my Steam Deck because I had better control over my character than using a mouse and keyboard. Dodging attacks and initiating counterattacks using skills were much easier for me to time correctly. The Steam Deck controller mapping will be similar to an Xbox controller and will require no setup to work, unlike other non-verified Steam games.

However, my initial excitement for the game was dampened by performance issues that arose soon after starting. Even after lowering the graphics settings to the minimum, I encountered extreme lag spikes during certain parts of the game that made it difficult for me to progress. For instance, there was a section where the environment was engulfed in lightning, and many enemies appeared. The lag spikes were so severe that it took me several hours to complete this part, and I had to learn to play through the lag spikes to progress the game.

Even so, I spent a few hours tweaking the settings on my Steam Deck and the in-game configuration to find the best experience, which I believe I have. While these settings don’t eliminate the lag spikes, they will limit them to almost zero.

Here are the best Remnant 2 in-game video settings:

• Display mode: Windowed Fullscreen
• Resolution: 1280 x 800
• Brightness: 50
• Motion Blur: off
• Vertical Sync: 30 FPS
• Graphics Quality Preset: Low
• Upscaler: None
• Resolution Scaling: None
• FOV Modifier: 1
• Minimize Input Latency: Off

Here are the best Steam Deck settings:

• Framerate Limit: 30
• Refresh Rate: 60

I suggest creating a game profile in your Steam Deck settings to save time when launching the game. This way, the settings will be remembered every time you play a new game that requires different settings.

Remnant 2 cloud save warning

Image: Gunfire Games

In addition to Remnant 2 not being verified for Steam Deck performance by Valve, it also does not have Cloud Saving at the time of this writing. This means you cannot start a game on your Steam Deck, pick that game up on your PC, and start playing again on your Steam Deck.

There are ways to transfer your save file from one device to another manually, but this is a tedious process that can cause issues with your devices, and I’ve seen save files get corrupted. Keep this in mind if you plan on playing on multiple devices like a Steam Deck because you will have to stick with that device or have two different save files going simultaneously.