Can you play Baldur’s Gate 3 on Steam Deck?

Larian Studios’ latest RPG is a revival of the classic Baldur’s Gate series. However, how does the third entry work on Valve’s Steam Deck?

From making their classic Divinity series, reviving it to critical acclaim – twice – and now, Larian Studios is prepping to launch its next game Baldur’s Gate 3. A sequel to Bioware’s first two entries, and set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons, it combines high fantasy and deep storytelling with Larian’s tongue-in-cheek humor.

However, the game has been in Early Access since October 2020, and with the Steam Deck now in full swing since 2022, how does the RPG run on it?

Baldur’s Gate on Steam Deck works out of the box via Proton, so there’s no issue with finding a compatibility layer that works. This also means that if you’re using a copy from Good Old Games, you should be able to play that too.

While you’d suspect the game to run quite well, the Steam Deck is currently limited to a stable 30, or 40FPS. For those of you who want to squeeze more out of it, 40Hz seems to be a good point. We’d also recommend using FSR to ensure the best performance.

Steam Deck controller support for Baldur’s Gate 3

Larian Studios

The main sticking point appears to be the controller support. Larian Studios have confirmed that the game will support it at launch, but there are some queries that haven’t gotten properly answered.

Baldur’s Gate 3 has been delayed on PS5, and from what we can see and have played, controller support is still a little weird. When we asked someone who had been playing the game, they mentioned that it does work but is “finicky”.

On Steam Deck, it should recognize your embedded controller and any external ones. It does, however, look “finicky”. While controller support seems to be in, it might not be the best way to play the game.

Baldur’s Gate 3 launches on PC on August 3, 2023, and is available via Steam or Good Old Games.

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