Palworld is now available in Early Access on Steam and in Game Preview mode on Xbox. The Pokemon with Weapons game is also playable on Valve’s Steam Deck, where I’ve been playing ever since Palworld started.
Yes, Palworld is officially “playable” on Steam Deck, which in Valve’s definition means the game is “functional on Steam Deck, but may require some additional effort to interact or configure.” Valve also warns that some in-game text may be small and difficult to read on the Steam Deck screen, and that users will need to adjust some graphics settings themselves.
Palworld on Steam Deck plays just like its bigger PC brother – it’s a fully featured open-world survival game with dozens of other branded Pokémon friends in your hands. There is no gameplay element that the Steam Deck version lacks compared to the other versions, but it can also be a bit clumsy and often feels slightly broken. I had some difficulty navigating the game’s menus using the Steam Deck’s gamepad controls. Some key presses just don’t register consistently, and I found myself confused about how to navigate certain menus. And Valve’s warning about tiny in-game text should be heeded. Palworld
Graphically, the game uses low settings by default, delivering refresh rates between 25 and 35 fps. Further optimization of these settings will result in better performance without much loss in visual quality. Palworld looks good and runs slightly better, generally at a frame rate of 30fps (which you can lock) with the following settings and the Steam Deck’s native 1200×800 resolution:
- VSync – off
- Motion blur – off
- Maximum FPS – 30
- Anti-Aliasing – TSR (or TAA)
- Visibility – low
- Grass – medium
- Shade – medium
- Effect quality – medium
- Texture quality – medium
If you manually set all graphics options to Low, you’ll get an inconsistent 40-50fps, but the sheer ugliness of these graphics may not be worth the trade-off. Most of the time a solid 30 fps will probably suit your needs better.
Palworld There’s obviously still a lot of work to be done to be fully “verified” on Steam Deck, especially when it comes to various UI elements and improved support for gamepad controls. But it’s more than playable right now and worth checking out on your Steam deck if you have one.
