Can you run Returnal on Steam Deck?

The PC version of Returnal is available, and players generally seem to enjoy it. Although the port has unfortunately underperformed in sales and concurrent players, it has nonetheless successfully carried over Returnal’s frenetic, challenging gameplay to PC without much issue. Some players, however, may want to experience Returnal on the go so they can stay comfortable on the bed or couch while overcoming its difficulty. The Steam Deck serves as a potentially fantastic solution to this, but that’s assuming that it can even run Returnal. So how well does Returnal fare on Valve’s portable PC?

Is Returnal playable on the Steam Deck?

If you don’t care too much about specs and simply want to know if the Steam Deck can play Returnal at all, then the answer is technically yes. But the game has not received an official “Playable” or “Verified” label, which may set off some alarm bells. Having said that, those with first-hand experience will generally find Returnal perfectly playable on the platform. However, while other Sony PC ports have performed fantastically on the device, Returnal makes some notable sacrifices in its presentation.

Returnal requires 60 GB to install, so those wanting to play it on the Steam Deck will need an SD card with quite a bit of storage space. But once you do install it, Returnal can only maintain around 25 to 30 frames per second or less at any given time, and that’s with a 30 fps cap and the preset at “Low.” Not necessarily awful, but not exactly ideal for such a twitch-based action game.

So it seems that, at the moment, the advanced visuals and performance of Returnal’s PC port have proven too much for the Steam Deck to handle. Until we see some sort of update for either Returnal or the Steam Deck, players will want to stick to the desktop for the best experience.

Image via Sony