Can You Play Valorant in Steam Deck?
The Steam Deck, a handheld gaming device launched by Valve, has received significant attention from gamers, and rightly so. As a PC-based device running on SteamOS, you might wonder if popular battle royale games like Valorant are available for play on this system. Unfortunately, the original answer is no, you cannot play Valorant on the Steam Deck
The Reason
Valorant is officially incompatible with the Steam Deck’s proprietary operating system, SteamOS. Although developers can sideload non-compatible games on the Steam Deck, Valorant is not one of them. According to the Steam Deck forums and user feedback, Valorant’s client is designed only for PC and doesn’t support running on Linux systems like SteamOS.
| Platform | Compatibility |
| PC (Windows, MacOS) | Yes, compatible and available |
| Steam Deck (SteamOS) | No, incompatible with SteamOS, not sideloadable or playable |
Other Methods
However, you are not completely out of options. Since the Steam Deck is based on a laptop-like design, you may consider playing Valorant from your PC using Steam remotely on the Steam Deck while it’s connected to WiFi. This method, as some users have experimented and confirmed, works quite efficiently. By using Proton, a compatibility tool from Valve, you might be able to play VALORANT on your computer, then stream the desktop to the Steam Deck.
Streaming and Remote Play Possibilities
- Stream Valorant from your gaming PC to the Steam Deck using Steam Remote Play.
- Choose the "Stream from Mac/PC" option (in Steam settings).
- Set up a Remote Play connection on the Steam Deck.
The Possibility of a Future Update?
Riot Games hasn’t made any official announcement about bringing Valorant compatibility to SteamOS. Developers have previously stated that adding support for Linux is often a time-consuming process involving compatibility issues and testing. Without an official update from Riots, it seems there won’t be an early fix.
The Upshot
In conclusion, no, you currently cannot play Valorant on the Steam Deck primarily due to compatibility issues, but alternative methods are emerging. You can, after all, play other Windows-compatible games on the device, so there’s an upside! Keep in touch with updates from both Valley and Riot Games to uncover potential breakthroughs on both fronts.