I’m thinking about getting a Steam Deck primarily for SteamOS, but I also want to play some games that aren’t available on Steam or that run into anti-cheat issues. Games like Tom Clancy’s R6, Rust, Fortnite, and some other esports titles are on my list. Will the Steam Deck run these games well, and is dual booting Windows a viable option?
6 Answers
If you’ve got games that require Windows, like you mentioned, dual booting is a good idea. It definitely works but, as mentioned by others, playing Windows games on the Deck can feel a bit off sometimes.
Quick answer: Yes, you can dual boot, and those games should run fine on the Deck. Just a heads up, there isn’t an official dual boot loader, so some third-party ones might be glitchy with updates. Check out r/WindowsOnDeck for resources!
Considering that most of those games are online, have you looked into game streaming? It can be pricier, but it’s a great alternative.
You might want to consider the ROG Ally instead; it could perform better on Windows. But, it is more expensive and I enjoy SteamOS, too. Just weighing options!
Sure, you can play those games, but just a tip: competitive shooters might be tough on a 7″ screen. Spotting enemies in R6 would be a challenge! There are plenty of other games that run well on it, though.
Dual booting works pretty well! I gave it a shot and while it’s functional, I personally preferred sticking to SteamOS after a while. If you need to play games with anti-cheat, though, it’s probably worth it. Setting it up isn’t too complicated either; there are loads of tutorials on YouTube.
How much hassle are we talking? I want to try it for Fortnite and some Xbox store games but I’m worried about messing it up.
Yeah, same here! It worked fine but I ended up removing Windows since I hardly used it.