Settings, playability, and compatibility with Palworld Steam Deck

When was the last time a video game so obviously took over the gaming world like Palworld did? Shortly after its launch, the survival shooting game that seems to be inspired by Pokémon surpassed 1.8 million active users on Steam, surpassing even the very popular Counter-Strike 2 as the most played title on the site. But is it compatible with the Palworld Steam Deck? On that, we have all the information you could possibly require—and more.

See our Palworld Switch compatibility guide, best Nintendo Switch games, and our predictions for the Nintendo Switch 2 for additional information on portable gaming. Alternatively, see our analysis of the Steam Deck vs. Nintendo Switch and peruse our Steam Deck 2 conjecture article.

Is Palworld Steam Deck compatible?Palworld is compatible with Steam Deck; however, according to Valve's official compatibility rating system, it only receives a "playable" grade on the portable device. So, just what does it mean? It means that while Palworld is definitely playable on your Steam Deck, the game isn't designed for the portable device, there are some annoying menu navigational challenges, and there isn't an auto-detect feature that would adjust the settings based on how well your Steam Deck performs.

Players have been talking about how well Palworld plays on Steam Deck on Reddit. Most people agree that it runs "pretty well," even on lower settings, however some have reported frame rate problems and system crashes. However, a user shared a video of themselves playing the game on the Steam Deck in another discussion thread, and although it may not be perfectly flawless, the game does seem to live up to the "playable" rating.

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How can I use Steam Deck to play Palworld?

Palworld may be played on the Steam Deck by streaming from your PC or by putting it straight into the portable device and using the system itself.

The first way involves downloading and installing Palworld onto your Steam Deck after making a purchase on Steam using the account linked to your Steam Deck. Now, if you're playing offline, you may launch the game straight from your smartphone from any location. Make sure Palworld is installed on your PC before opening Steam and connecting both your PC and Steam Deck to the same wireless network in order to play Palworld on your Steam Deck via your PC. You may now play Palworld on your Steam Deck using a PC by opening your Steam library on your Steam Deck.

Which Palword Steam Deck settings work best?

You should adjust the settings for Paworld on your Steam Deck based on your own tastes. Reduce your graphics settings if you wish to focus on a fast frame rate and uninterrupted gaming. However, there's a price for this: the game now looks much worse. You should run the game primarily on its medium settings if you don't mind the odd frame rate decrease to make Palworld appear nicer most of the time. We think the latter option strikes a better compromise, however in very taxing situations you may want to periodically reduce your settings.

Our suggested Palworld settings are as follows:
  • Max FPS: no limit
  • Vsync: off
  • Motion blur: off
  • Anti-aliasing: TSR
  • View distance: medium
  • Grass details: medium
  • Shadows: medium
  • Effects quality: medium
  • Texture quality: medium
  • Field of view: 90

That's all there is to know about using the Steam Deck to operate Palworld. Improved compatibility may be in store when Pocket Pair improves the game. These, however, are your best bets till then.

Check out our selections of the top Nintendo Switch role-playing games (RPGs) and our predictions for the next Pokémon game new game) for more exciting gaming content.

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