Hello everyone, I dont own a gaming console or anything of the sort, but decided to start my gamer life with a steam deck since its portable and I dont have to stay in front of the TV all day. I am just confused since some people say that I need to install Windows 11 on it to be able to play some titles, and others say that I dont! So what is the real situation with it? And would it be better than other new portable gaming consoles? Any advice for what to do when I buy the device?

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MrSatan2 t1_jca70sl wrote on March 15, 2023 at 12:04 PM

Steam Deck is not compatible with all games yet. I tried around 50 games on my SD and only 1 didnt work (old 2007 Western game) the rest was fine. Unless you play a lot of multiplayer games with anti cheat or something like destiny 2 you wont need to install Windows on it and the base OS is way more userfriendly imo.

I wouldnt recommend another handheld PC for a beginner. Get a series s/x or ps5 if you want more plug and play style of gaming, get a steam deck with the basic OS if you want the portability and still kinda easy user experience.

Pacomatic t1_jcb6vg2 wrote on March 15, 2023 at 4:18 PM

Although a Switch may also fit, it's been around for 5 years now and seeing as how Nintendo replaces their current consoles 5 years after launch you'd best not get one.

Conspiracy_Geek t1_jcbml8m wrote on March 15, 2023 at 5:55 PM

I have a Steam Deck that works great and I haven't installed Windows 11 so I highly recommend!

TalkingRaccoon t1_jcb970i wrote on March 15, 2023 at 4:33 PM

Ganes you can't play under the native steam os are basically all multiplayer titles with anti cheat. So Fortnite, Destiny 2, CodWarzone don't work UNESS you install windows 10 or 11.

Some multiplayer games however that did not used to work under steam OS got updated at some point and now do. Apex legends, division 2 for example.

I think some of the confusion comes from old articles still out there saying this or that doesn't work when it's been updated since then. Basically your best bet is to just look up specific games you are curious about and see how they run.

Even demanding single player games have been updated like Cyberpunk which is now deck verified and has its own graphics setting preset in the game.

ranch_soda t1_jcer3f6 wrote on March 16, 2023 at 9:06 AM

If you look at the Steam store it will let you know what games are "verified" "playable" or "unsupported." I've had success with every game I've tried to play except one. Which was labeled as "unsupported" so I should have known.

You can install windows on it, which it the beauty of the Steam Deck. I don't believe it's essential for anything except for a few specific games which have anti-cheat, which doesn't play nice with Valves compatibility layer.

You can even get the Epic games store and Ubisoft games running on it with some work arounds.

Best of luck to you, I love mine.

Axiproto t1_je8ffli wrote on March 30, 2023 at 4:03 AM

>I am just confused since some people say that I need to install Windows 11 on it to be able to play some titles, and others say that I dont!

The Steam Deck runs an Arch-based Operating System called SteamOS. Most PC games that run on Windows cannot run natively on SteamOS. Instead, they have to be run using a compatible layer called Proton. Proton does a good job making a lot of PC games runnable on the Steam Deck, but it's not perfect. Not all games on Windows will run on Steam Deck even with Proton. You do have the option of installing windows, but I don't recommend doing so. The best thing to do is make a list of all the games you want to play on the Steam deck and research their compatibility before you decide to get a steam deck. That, or just get a PC with Windows.