One Huge Problem With The Steam Deck Has Nothing To Do With The Console

Handheld gaming has come a long way over the years, from the original 1978 Merlin, to the popularity of Nintendo's Game Boy, and now, to the stage where players can take their PC libraries — including major AAA titles like or — on the go with the likes of the ROG Ally or the Steam Deck. Compared to the Windows-based handhelds on the market, Valve's offering — which runs on the Linux-based SteamOS — proved to be popular due to its lower price point, and an OLED offering was released in November last year that resolved several issues players had about the original LCD models, with an improved screen, battery, and the option for a larger amount of internal storage.

The Steam Deck was also praised for how Valve enabled players to very easily set up and play games in their Steam libraries, with a "" system that showed which titles had been tested and would be expected to play without issue, which ones were "" but had minor issues such as needing to use the on-screen keyboard to input information for a third party launcher like Ubisoft or Rockstar, or didn't have button glyphs appearing on-screen, or those that were deemed Unsupported, usually due to potential issues with Linux compatibility or anti-cheat systems — something that players have found workarounds for through installing Windows and dual-booting the console.

The system had an impressive number of Verified games at launch, and that number grew in the years that followed. Players also experimented and found several untested titles that would play at a decent quality on the device to further expand the available catalog, with several forums dedicated to what titles could play on the Steam Deck.

All titles that have been tested maintain those Verified ratings for both LCD and OLED models.

Valve’s ultra-powerful handheld gaming PC, the Steam Deck, has a massive — even daunting — library of games. Here are some of its highlights.

Since Valve first launched the Steam Deck, there has been an issue with players not