DanielG165
Gold Member
Because the Steam Deck was advertised by Valve themselves playing the likes of DOOM Eternal, Control, Fallen Order, Ghost Runner etc. Big budget games that all have a lot going on in them.
Digital Foundry: 'Too Big' For Steam Deck: AAA Games Are Struggling On Valve's Handheld
- Thread starter adamsapple
- Start date
diffusionx
Gold Member
All the games you mentioned are old and designed to run on PS4 type hardware.
IDKFA
I am Become Bilbo Baggins
They need to wait for the tech to catch up.
A successor to the SD needs to be more than just a slight upgrade. It needs to be powerful enough to run every new release of the next 4-5 years at max settings.
viveks86
Member
I'm hoping that's what the next Sony handheld is. A PSP + Portal hybrid. Stream your PS5/PS6 games, and still play purpose built standalone ones while on the go.
TintoConCasera
I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
How do those games run on the Deck?
DanielG165
Gold Member
This really is a, “this goes without saying” kind of topic from DF. Of course a handheld with an APU from 2021 isn’t going to run current gen only games of the past couple years well, if at all. Can the Deck run some current gen games? Yes. I’ve literally played Bright Memory Infinite on it, and that game ran fine.
However, for all of my heavy/current gen game needs on a handheld, I use my ROG Ally. The Deck, as much as I love it, is older tech at this point.
However, for all of my heavy/current gen game needs on a handheld, I use my ROG Ally. The Deck, as much as I love it, is older tech at this point.
Quite well, actually. Only thing you bump up against is extensive battery drainage.
TintoConCasera
I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
In that case I wouldn't call it false advertisement but rather people not being able to control their expectations.
Yeah that sucks. At least it gives you options to mitigate it, like controlling the CPU and GPU max usage. You can get up to 6 or 7 hours of playtime in some games, which is nice.
DanielG165
Gold Member
How? It’s a Zen 2 APU that’s stuffed into a comparatively small handheld device with limited thermals, and is drawing 15w of power at most. Nothing embarrassing about it.
Agreed on all of this. We’re dealing with 2021 hardware in a handheld device, at the end of the day. And the custom battery life profiles are lovely; it’s great to see handheld PCs are offering this across the board.
Chukhopops
Member
Never understood the idea of using a handheld to play AAA games at super poor settings when there are thousands of fantastic games running perfectly and almost built for Steam Deck. Even old games like Witcher 3 run with significant compromises natively, you get less input lag streaming it locally.
But I guess others do since games like Cyberpunk or even MH Wilds are constantly in the most played on Deck charts.
But I guess others do since games like Cyberpunk or even MH Wilds are constantly in the most played on Deck charts.
mrMUR_96
Member
Wtf is that real? that is literally pixel art soup, how in the f*ck omg hahahaChrsit... upscaling should be banned from this earth. Especially fsr2.
Seriously... just run at low res and use bilinear upscaling.
WHAT IS THIS.
DF is not critical enough of this... Olivier runs every game in the video with fsr2. It's not acceptable. It's horrible
how much is steam deck nowadays? holy fuck just get ps5 digital for 300-400$ cmon
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
Can I play Godhand, Morrowind, and Shaolin Monks in bed on a ps5 digital while my wife watches TV? These devices aren’t even remotely similar.
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TintoConCasera
I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
how's it on the Deck? Last time I tried it running it through Luxorpeda (which comes packed with OpenMW) I was getting bad framerates, which seemed odd given that the game should run like a dream.
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
Inventory management is a bitch but it runs fine for me on OpenMW and looks great on the OLED
MadchesterManc
Member
Chrsit... upscaling should be banned from this earth. Especially fsr2.
Seriously... just run at low res and use bilinear upscaling.
WHAT IS THIS.
DF is not critical enough of this... Olivier runs every game in the video with fsr2. It's not acceptable. It's horrible
how much is steam deck nowadays? holy fuck just get ps5 digital for 300-400$ cmon
That DD2 screenshot
FSR3 running ultra performance at 720p? That's like what, 320x180? Bruh, have some self respect to not do that. I can't even see what's going on in those Dragon Age shots, has me yearning for the image quality of an RF cable. The Steam Deck is a fantastic device when used properly, this isn't it.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Or next year at the latest.
This is why I hate when people keep talking about a next-gen Xbox handheld that will launch with a next-gen Xbox console, as if it really means anything. IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!!!!
Chrsit... upscaling should be banned from this earth. Especially fsr2.
Seriously... just run at low res and use bilinear upscaling.
WHAT IS THIS.
DF is not critical enough of this... Olivier runs every game in the video with fsr2. It's not acceptable. It's horrible
how much is steam deck nowadays? holy fuck just get ps5 digital for 300-400$ cmon
This is freaking embarrasing!
I agree with you! But
HeisenbergFX4
seems to have intel that MS will be launching a next-gen Xbox console and handheld for their next-gen goals. And we KNOW he has contacts.Purely insane! Look in any PS5 Pro thread these days.
Mr Hyde
Member
Chrsit... upscaling should be banned from this earth. Especially fsr2.
Seriously... just run at low res and use bilinear upscaling.
WHAT IS THIS.
DF is not critical enough of this... Olivier runs every game in the video with fsr2. It's not acceptable. It's horrible
how much is steam deck nowadays? holy fuck just get ps5 digital for 300-400$ cmon
First shot reminds me of those classic Sierra-games from the early 90s, like King´s Quest.
viveks86
Member
Oh that's probably happening. It makes me shudder is allI agree with you! But
Mercador
Member
Mr Hyde
Member
For me, King's Quest was like this:
I must´ve played some of the later entries because I don´t remember them looking like that
rofif
Can’t Git Gud
who asked about playing pc in bed?
Can I play Godhand, Morrowind, and Shaolin Monks in bed on a ps5 digital while my wife watches TV? These devices aren’t even remotely similar.
Play games like a man, at a desk.
besides - we are talking about new games.
RodriGames40
Member
The chipset for what you're asking for won't exist a whole console generation from now. At best we are getting FSR4 and XSS raster performance.
XXL
Gold Member
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hinch7
Member
Yeah thats not going to happen any time soon. Maybe a couple GPU generations. Current games are poorly optimised as it is, and you can only do so much with a mobile chipset with limited TDP.
There are improvements to battery tech like silicon-carbon batteries which is nice. If we match that up with 3nm chips (UDNA?) we should see some decent uplift with the next generations of handhelds. Hopefully we should see them in mobile APU's early next year. Rumors are 2026 release and next generation consoles gearing for 2027, which would make sense.
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Syphon Filter
Member
aaa games aren't good so i don't see this as an issue.
IDKFA
I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Yep. As I said, technology needs to catch up first.
Unless of course Valve pump hundreds of millions developing bleeding edge tech. Imagine a Steamdeck with the power of a 4070, complete with a custom processor, 2TB of storage and a range of screen sizes from 8inch all the way to 15inches
That's a proper upgrade.
RodriGames40
Member
The problem is less that and more the tech physically does not exist and not for a whole console gen, which is 6-7 years. Even then, the uplift will almost certainly be disappointing.
SweetTooth
Gold Member
TintoConCasera
I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
XXL
Gold Member
That's actually super accurate. Lol.
StereoVsn
Gold Member
I have an Ally and usually if the game is “too big” for the Deck, it’s going to be so marginal on the Ally, it’s also not worth it.
We really need those RDNA 4 handhelds… which aren’t happening. So really we won’t have massive improvement till next year.
Even Z2 Extreme is not that much of an uplift.
We really need those RDNA 4 handhelds… which aren’t happening. So really we won’t have massive improvement till next year.
Even Z2 Extreme is not that much of an uplift.
Rambone
Member
I definitely am looking forward to the next generation of steam deck. Lately I have been using it like Nintendo Switch and have my Deck docked so that I can play Steam games on my TV. I like using the deck over my desktop PC for this because the Deck doesn't make much noise when under load where as my 3080ti on my PC is a noisy mother fucker and it honestly turns me off from gaming sometimes.
DanielG165
Gold Member
That’s interesting. I typically find that my Ally (Z1E), is considerably more performative than my Steam Deck in the heavier stuff, especially when running in full fat Turbo mode.
StereoVsn
Gold Member
It is more performant, but that extra 10-20% performance either kills the battery in under an hour (have OG Ally) or it’s not enough at 15w to make me bother.
Doctor Hades
Member
Steam has by far the largest back catalogue of games of any system so the idea of playing the latest and greatest on a handheld with the games looking like 2D pixel art just baffles me.
My Steam Deck is used for PS4/Xbox One ports and older games that run fantastic on this terrific portable with all the settings maxed out at native resolution and often at 60 fps. That is what the Steam Deck is perfect for in my opinion. There is just much older stuff to enjoy that I don't feel any need to play newer games on the handheld.
Why would I want a diminished experience when I can enjoy newer games properly on my PC?
My Steam Deck is used for PS4/Xbox One ports and older games that run fantastic on this terrific portable with all the settings maxed out at native resolution and often at 60 fps. That is what the Steam Deck is perfect for in my opinion. There is just much older stuff to enjoy that I don't feel any need to play newer games on the handheld.
Why would I want a diminished experience when I can enjoy newer games properly on my PC?
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POTASIUM
Neo Member
Facts man. I actually replaced my OG Switch with a Switch Lite and it is better in every single way when it comes to handheld play. I now use a Steam Deck but I would be happy if a more compact model was released in the future.
I get that the vast majority of folks only want to buy new hardware in order to play the newest games. But really the niche for these portables is about new hardware increasing the value of old games. That is what the Steam Deck does for me: portability, OLED screen, HDR (for some games), steam input, etc all make the experience of playing older games better. And for folks that are new to the PC space, the option of modding these older games can dramatically increase their value. Valve does not need to chase performance specs (other than battery life and weight) in my opinion.
cartman414
Member
No BG3?
Gambit2483
Member
That doesn't mean much when you have developers that actively optimize a game around specific hardware.
Steam Decks problem is that devs aren't optimizing their games for handheld PCs. These are basically PC ports that are being brute forced on OEM parts/specs.
RCX
Member
If you bought a deck in the last 18 months with the intention of using it as a AAA machine then you are a special kind of idiot.
Its awesome for indies, last gen and remote play. It's 100% worth it for those qualities but it's not able for top end 2025 games.
Spoiler alert: thats ok though, as those games are mostly unfinished, unoptimized or just plain shite
Its awesome for indies, last gen and remote play. It's 100% worth it for those qualities but it's not able for top end 2025 games.
Spoiler alert: thats ok though, as those games are mostly unfinished, unoptimized or just plain shite
CrustyBritches
Gold Member
Some strange takes in this thread. How is a PS5 a substitute for a portable PC?
Some newer games are just a mix of being to heavy and too poorly optimized to run well on Deck. Just have to play one of the other 500 games in your backlog, stream PC using moonlight, or stream PS5 using Chiaki.
Some newer games are just a mix of being to heavy and too poorly optimized to run well on Deck. Just have to play one of the other 500 games in your backlog, stream PC using moonlight, or stream PS5 using Chiaki.
memoryman3
Neo Member
And developers often don't. Almost everything runs on standard Unreal Engine and. PC hardware API's have matured - PC equivalent hardware released 4 years ago is still very competitive with PS5 and Xbox Series hardware. Switch 2 will have the advantage of precompiled shader graphics binaries and dedicated hardware to perform tasks like decompression, but the underlying CPU is still very slow and the memory speed is greatly behind the bigger consoles and Series S.
Developers don't even bother to create custom assets, artwork and meshes for down-porting now (this allowed some last gen ports and portable ports like Sonic Racing to punch above their weight on weaker platforms i.e. the Vita), as it has just gotten too expensive to do so.
Gambit2483
Member
Actually thats not true when it comes to Switch. Switch has a plethora of Impossible ports. Ports that no one would have believed to run on the console, and yet they exist, because developers optimized their games for the system.
Now with Xbox going the way of SEGA Devs will absolutely put more focus on putting out competently optimized games on Switch 2, if they want to make sales/money. Especially on a platform where people actually BUY their games, unlike on Series S.
And besides do you really think Devs arent going to try to impress the hell out of us with their launch/first year games?? They are going to pull every trick and skill they know for their launch games including the use of DLSS.
cinnamonandgravy
Member
Sonik
Member
Half of them run badly on 2025 desktop hardware
YeulEmeralda
Linux User
No shit. Still better than Switch though.
