The Steam Deck has been widely praised by almost everyone who sets eyes on it, and it’s easy to see why- a handheld gaming computer that can run the entire Steam library? That’s an exciting elevator pitch if I’ve ever heard one. Of course, the question a few people have asked is- say it runs the whole Steam library? The device runs on a modified version of the SteamOS and uses the Proton compatibility layer to make Steam games run with no issue, but Proton’s history has been spotty in the past, while then also the fact that the Steam Deck specs might not be up to scratch for some of the more challenging games.
According to Valve, however, that has not been a problem. Talk to IGN (via PC Gamer), Valve’s Pierre-Loup Grifbhas said that the company has been testing games from the Steam catalog on the device for years, and while initially having problems running some of the more recent releases, the device can present can handle almost anything they have thrown at it.
“We’ve been looking at various games over the last few years in the back catalog, but the real test for us was games that came out last year,” said Grifbhas. “They couldn’t run very well on the previous types of prototypes and architecture we were testing. This is the first time we have achieved the level of performance required to run the latest generation of games without problems. All the games we wanted to be playable, really, are the whole Steam library. We haven’t found something we could throw at this device that couldn’t handle it. ”
Given the ambitions that Valve has for the Steam Deck and how successful they want it to be, it’s pretty important that the game can run most (if not all) of the games that people would want she ran them. Valve has also previously said that they have made improvements to Proton to make games run on the device with no hiccups, so this definitely seems to be something they have been aware of.
The Steam Deck launches in selected regions of the world in December.
