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It is that point of yr once more. Each December, our essential man, Geoff Keighley, hosts The Sport Awards, and this yr, now we have 51 completely different video games nominated for varied awards. However how do these video games play on the Steam Deck? Properly, that is a query you do not have to fret about as a result of we have carried out all of the be just right for you in testing out every of the nominees to see how they run on the Steam Deck.
So, with out additional ado, let’s take a look at all of the nominated video games and winners for this yr’s The Sport Awards. We have sorted these video games by the Steam Deck compatibility rating that we have awarded them, which is proven subsequent to the sport titles, with GOTY nominees given precedence:
The Sport Awards 2024 Nominees
Listed below are the video games (and DLC) which have been nominated for Sport of the 12 months by The Sport Awards 2024.
Nominated For Greatest: GOTY, Sport Path, Unbiased Sport, Debut Indie, Cell Sport
Received: Greatest Unbiased Sport, Greatest Debut Indie Sport, Greatest Cell Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 5/5
Balatro simply works on the Steam Deck, with the sport simply playable at 60 or 90 FPS relying in your Steam Deck mannequin, with minimal battery drain and easy-to-use controls. You should not have any worries about choosing this one as much as play in your Steam Deck, as per our assessment.
Nominated For Greatest: GOTY, Sport Path, Narrative, Artwork Path, Rating/Music, RPG
Received: Greatest Narrative, Greatest Artwork Path, Greatest RPG
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
We reviewed Metaphor: ReFantazio when it launched again in October, and had been happy to see that it ran simply superb on the Steam Deck, permitting for an nearly fixed 30 FPS lock even with greater settings. The controls work nice, and that is one other sport that you just should not fear about choosing up on the Deck.
Nominated For Greatest: GOTY, Sport Path, Artwork Path, Motion Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 3/5
In our assessment, we discovered that Black Fantasy: Wukong is playable with some visible compromises. The controls work nice and you’ll persist with 30 FPS for almost all of the time other than some cutscenes.
Nominated For Greatest: GOTY, Sport Path, Artwork Path, RPG
Steam Deck Compatibility: 3/5
Whereas our assessment of the bottom Elden Ring sport rings true for a few of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, we did discover that the DLC is a little more demanding. Nonetheless, the sport stays playable at 30 FPS with some visible compromises and nonetheless appears nice.
Remaining Fantasy VII Rebirth (0/5)
Astro Bot (0/5)
Nominated For Greatest: GOTY, Sport Path, Artwork Path, Rating/Music, Audio, Motion/Journey Sport, Household Sport
Received: GOTY, Greatest Sport Path, Greatest Motion/Journey Sport, Greatest Household Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 0/5, Astro Bot is unique to PlayStation 5 for now, though Sony usually brings their 1st social gathering video games to PC after a few years. We’ll should see with Astro Bot, given its heavy reliance on PlayStation IP. It’s a nice sport although, and one we hope to see come to PC sooner or later. For now, you may at all times stream the sport out of your PS5 utilizing Chiaki4Deck.
Listed below are the remainder of the nominees for varied classes at The Sport Awards 2024.
Nominated For Greatest: Unbiased Sport, Debut Indie
Steam Deck Compatibility: 5/5
This surreal Metroidvania labored excellently on the Steam Deck once we reviewed it again in Might of this yr, with very low battery drain and a 60 FPS lock. You simply would possibly must manually lock the GPU to 800 MHz to get one of the best out of your battery. Apart from that, you’ll be able to’t fault the way it runs on our favourite handheld system.
Nominated For Greatest: Combating Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 5/5
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising ran flawlessly in our checks, with the sport playable on the highest graphics settings whereas nonetheless sustaining 60 FPS, and an influence draw that tended to be round 12-13W, which means you will get quantity of playtime. The controls additionally work nicely.
Nominated For Greatest: Unbiased Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 5/5
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes performs very nicely on Steam Deck, with the sport in a position to run at 90 FPS with minimal energy draw. There are some odd design selections relating to the controls on a controller, nevertheless. You may also should pressure an older Proton model for one of the best expertise. You may learn our assessment of the sport right here.
Nominated For Greatest: Combating Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 5/5
Marvel Vs. Capcom Combating Assortment: Arcade Classics has a really lengthy identify. Happily, that does not cease it from being wonderful on the Steam Deck. Nice controls, nice efficiency, and minimal energy drain make this a top-tier title to play on the go. You may take a look at our assessment of the gathering right here.
Nominated For Greatest: Combating Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 5/5
The sport requires a touchscreen to put in some Visible C++ parts at launch, as is widespread for some Unreal Engine video games. You will additionally want to make use of the touchscreen to regulate the online browser to create a WB Video games account if you happen to do not have already got one. It is best to change from Windowed Fullscreen to Fullscreen to help with studying textual content. When you’re within the sport, nevertheless, you’ll be able to run at excessive settings and nonetheless keep 60 FPS, the web modes additionally work superb.
Nominated For Greatest: Artwork Path, Video games for Impression, Unbiased Sport
Received: Video games for Impression
Steam Deck Compatibility: 5/5
NEVA is a good sport to play on the Steam Deck, you’ll be able to simply play it at 90 FPS, the facility draw stays beneath 10W, and the sport controls superbly. Plus the visuals pop on an OLED display. There are not any worries about choosing this one up on the Steam Deck.
Nominated For Greatest: Accessibility, Motion/Journey Sport
Received: Innovation in Accessibility
Steam Deck Compatibility: 5/5
Considered one of Ubisoft’s finest Steam Deck video games to play. Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown runs flawlessly on the Steam Deck, hitting 60 and 90 FPS with ease. I do advocate retaining it to 60 for battery life, however general, it is without doubt one of the finest Metroidvania to play on the go.
Nominated For Greatest: Unbiased Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 5/5
UFO 50 works flawlessly on the Steam Deck, with very minimal energy draw and a strong 60 FPS all through. The sport has no in-game settings to regulate, so you’ll be able to simply boot it up and luxuriate in some retro minigame enjoyable!
Nominated For Greatest: Greatest Sim/Technique
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
Age of Mythology: Retold has nice controller help for each gameplay and menus, the efficiency can also be fairly good. The sport defaults to medium settings, which might be the place you need it, as additional right into a sport, the CPU turns into the limiting issue. In the direction of the late sport in a 12-player match, count on FPS to drop into the excessive 20s no matter settings, so that you would possibly need to restrict the sport to 30 FPS and maintain the participant restrict to eight or much less.
Nominated For Greatest: Video games for Impression
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
For those who maintain the settings low, you’ll be able to get pleasure from a locked 30 FPS expertise right here, together with a reasonably lengthy battery life. The sport’s controller help can also be wonderful. You may take a look at our full assessment right here.
Nominated For Greatest: Accessibility, Ongoing Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
We gave Diablo 4 a 4/5 in our assessment final yr, stating that the sport is well-optimized, and you’ll count on a forty five FPS expertise with respectable battery life and wonderful controller help. The sport has since moved to Steam as nicely, so there isn’t any must fiddle with putting in BNet.
Nominated For Greatest: Combating Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero may be one of the best Dragon Ball sport up to now, and it is made even higher by the truth that it is playable on the Steam Deck. The sport struggles to carry 60 FPS on the Steam Deck and can go into sluggish movement if it drops beneath 60 FPS, however because of a easy repair in our assessment of the sport, you’ll be able to run the sport at 40 FPS and do away with the sluggish movement impact. You will not be capable of play on-line, however it is possible for you to to benefit from the sport’s single-player simply superb.
Nominated For Greatest: Ongoing Sport, Neighborhood Help
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
Remaining Fantasy XIV works fairly nicely on the Steam Deck, with FPS staying above 40 FPS even on greater settings. It has respectable controls for an MMO of this type, which could not be stunning seeing as the sport is on PlayStation. You will want to make use of a trackpad for the mouse through the Sq. Enix account stuff, however in any other case, the sport runs nice on the Steam Deck.
Nominated For Greatest: Sim/Technique Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess works fairly nicely on the Steam Deck, with some flexibility in whether or not you need a smoother expertise, extra battery life, or better visible high quality. The controls additionally work simply superb on the Steam Deck. You may take a look at our assessment of the sport and our advisable settings.
Nominated For Greatest: Narrative, RPG
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth works nicely on the Steam Deck, with the sport having the ability to deal with each some good visuals and 40 FPS, with the pliability to extend visible high quality or battery life by dropping to 30 FPS. The controls additionally work completely on the Steam Deck. You may learn our full assessment right here.
Nominated For Greatest: Sports activities/Racing Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
NBA 2K25 ran surprisingly nicely on the Steam Deck after I reviewed it final month, even permitting you to play at 60 FPS with the correct settings, or getting a clearer image and working at 40 FPS. The controls are nice, and the sport works on-line simply superb. It may be fairly laborious on the battery, however aside from that, it is a superb sport to play on the Steam Deck.
Nominated For Greatest: Video games for Impression
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
Tales of Kenzera: Zau really has a Steam Deck preset for its graphics choices, which provides you a reasonably secure 60 FPS expertise with low settings, though you do get dips as little as 50 at factors, it would not have an effect on gameplay an excessive amount of. The sport sadly would not help 16:10 side ratios both, so you’re going to get borders on the prime and backside of your display. Controller help is superb.
Nominated For Greatest: Combating Sport, Multiplayer
Received: Greatest Combating Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
With the right settings, TEKKEN 8 can run at a easy 60 FPS all through, with solely uncommon dips into the mid-50s in particular circumstances. This makes TEKKEN 8 completely playable on the Steam Deck, with good controls, and respectable visuals, though your battery life will not be nice. You may learn our assessment of the sport right here.
Nominated For Greatest: Debut Indie Sport, Household Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
We thought The Plucky Squire was an awesome little title, and whereas the Steam Deck efficiency was maybe somewhat disappointing for what the sport is, it does stay completely playable at 30 FPS, even going as much as 45 FPS if you happen to decrease the settings. You may take a look at our assessment for our advisable settings.
Nominated For Greatest: Sports activities/Racing Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 4/5
TopSpin 2K25 seems to work fairly nicely on the Steam Deck, with the sport in a position to keep a locked 30 FPS within the matches I performed, the controls work nice, and the expertise is easy. There are some studies of crashes sometimes, however I did not expertise any when testing.
Nominated For Greatest: Neighborhood Help
Received: Greatest Neighborhood Help
Steam Deck Compatibility: 3/5
Baldur’s Gate 3 was successful when it launched, and we had been all clamoring to see how it will run on our Steam Decks. With gradual enhancements from patches, we reviewed the sport again in April and located that it runs fairly nicely on the Steam Deck supplied you retain your settings low. The sport will wrestle in some locations in Act 3, however given the turn-based nature of the sport, just a few body drops is a suitable value to pay to expertise this gem on the transfer. The sport adapts surprisingly nicely to controllers.
Nominated For Greatest: Accessibility
Steam Deck Compatibility: 3/5
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is playable on the Steam Deck, usually staying above 30 FPS, with occasional dips below, however supplied you retain the settings low and benefit from FSR upscaling, it is best to be capable of maintain the sport round 30 FPS throughout any fights. You may take a look at our first impressions of the sport.
Nominated For Greatest: Video games for Impression
Steam Deck Compatibility: 3/5
INDIKA is playable on the Steam Deck, however you’ll be able to count on some drops beneath 30 FPS in sure areas of the sport, and the textual content may be laborious to learn in some locations. We’d advocate enjoying this one on a desktop PC if you happen to can, however it should work on the Steam Deck, as per our assessment.
Nominated For Greatest: Efficiency (Hannah Telle), Video games for Impression
Steam Deck Compatibility: 3/5
Life is Unusual: Double Publicity is playable on the Steam Deck, however you do miss out on some niceties. Count on drops beneath 30 FPS at factors, and generally the characters will not fairly look in place with the surroundings they’re in on account of lower-quality visuals. However the story remains to be fulfilling, and you’ve got good controller help besides. You may learn our assessment right here.
Nominated For Greatest: Debut Indie Sport, Sim/Technique Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 3/5
Manor Lords is playable on the Steam Deck, and we are able to get some visible niceties with out compromising an excessive amount of on efficiency. You’re going to get some dips from 30 FPS, however given the type of the sport, it isn’t a dealbreaker. The sport has no controller help, nevertheless, so you will must configure a controller format, however the sport is pretty easy to regulate for a technique sport, and it is pretty simple to configure. You may learn our early entry assessment of the sport right here.
Nominated For Greatest: Neighborhood Help
Steam Deck Compatibility: 3/5
No Man’s Sky’s fixed updates have earned it this nomination, and it additionally means it is fairly laborious to maintain on top of things with the way it runs on the Steam Deck. Nonetheless, our assessment again in December 2022 discovered that it may persist with 30 FPS. I can verify having performed it extra lately on a Steam Deck, that the sport does stay totally playable and it controls nicely. It is a sport we hope to assessment once more with extra depth sooner or later.
Nominated For Greatest: Sports activities/Racing Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 3/5
It is a robust one, as the sport seems to run superb relating to efficiency, with the sport holding above 50 FPS even with 8 wrestlers within the area, and the controls work simply superb. Nonetheless, I used to be unable to connect with the web servers on my Steam Deck, and different customers are reporting crashes when utilizing a Steam Deck. So though I did not get any crashes myself, simply bear in mind that it’d occur and you can also make use of Steam’s refund coverage if it does occur to you.
Nominated For Greatest: Sim/Technique
Received: Greatest Sim/Technique Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 2/5
Frostpunk 2 was at all times going to be a bit messy on the Steam Deck. There isn’t any controller help, so that you do want a customized controller format. The efficiency additionally is not perfect with the body charge within the 30s with low settings. We additionally discovered that you could be expertise crashes on account of excessive RAM utilization afterward within the sport. Take a look at our full assessment of the sport.
Nominated For Greatest: Ongoing Sport, Neighborhood Help, Motion Sport, Multiplayer
Received: Greatest Ongoing Sport, Greatest Multiplayer Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 2/5
Helldivers 2 used to work nicely on the Steam Deck, with good controller help and a reasonably secure 30 FPS expertise at decrease graphical settings. Nevertheless it looks like newer updates could have raised the necessities and the sport generally is a little unstable on the Steam Deck these days. Regardless, you’ll be able to take a look at our assessment of the sport when it launched again in February.
Nominated For Greatest: Debut Indie Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 2/5
Whereas Pacific Drive appears to have acquired some optimizations because it launched, you’ll have to take care of sub-30 FPS moments as you progress by the sport. One of the best you are able to do is ready all settings to low, swap the display mode to Fullscreen, and decrease the decision to 1152×720, this tends to maintain the sport at 25+ FPS, and also you would possibly discover that playable, however I might advocate you persist with one thing extra highly effective than a Steam Deck to play this one.
Nominated For Greatest: Narrative, Rating/Music, Audio, Efficiency (Luke Roberts), Motion/Journey Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 2/5
As per our first impressions article for Silent Hill 2, the sport does look like playable for probably the most half, however you’ll be able to count on frequent dips beneath 30 FPS throughout play, and probably even decrease than that. However the sport does management superb, and there have been patches since then geared toward optimization.
Nominated For Greatest: Motion Sport, Multiplayer
Steam Deck Compatibility: 2/5
Whereas we’d have dearly beloved for House Marine 2 to be playable on the Steam Deck, we sadly present in our assessment that one of the simplest ways to play the sport is at 24 FPS. Focus Leisure did say that Steam Deck help could be coming this yr, however that hasn’t come to fruition but, so we do not advocate you play this one on the Steam Deck.
Nominated For Greatest: RPG
Steam Deck Compatibility: 1/5
Sadly, Dragon’s Dogma 2 nonetheless is not playable on the Steam Deck. Even on the bottom settings with FSR set to Extremely Efficiency, you’ll be able to see dips below 20 FPS, and the sport is commonly working at slower than 30 FPS. The controls work nice, and if efficiency is improved, it might be a superb sport, however proper now, you do not need to play this one on the Steam Deck.
Nominated For Greatest: Narrative, Audio, Efficiency (Melina Juergens), Video games for Impression
Received: Greatest Audio Design, Greatest Efficiency (Melina Juergens)
Steam Deck Compatibility: 1/5
Sadly, in our first impressions article for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, we discovered that the efficiency on Steam Deck is essentially unplayable. Even with low settings and making the most of upscaling expertise, efficiency is commonly sub-30 FPS and infrequently sub-20, so we would advocate you persist with enjoying it on a PC or streaming the sport from GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud.
Nominated For Greatest: Efficiency (Humberly González), Accessibility, Motion/Journey Sport
Steam Deck Compatibility: 1/5
Whereas Star Wars: Outlaws can run on the Steam Deck utilizing Proton GE, it is not one of the best expertise. Even on the bottom settings, I used to be getting sub-30 FPS within the cantina and strolling round, with motion sequences dropping even decrease.
Nominated For Greatest: Audio Design, Accessibility, Motion Sport, Multiplayer
Steam Deck Compatibility: 0/5
Like all latest Name of Obligation video games, anti-cheat is in place which doesn’t help Linux units. You would need to stream Black Ops 6 to your Steam Deck utilizing a service like Xbox Sport Cross or GeForce Now.
Nominated For Greatest: Ongoing Sport, Neighborhood Help
Steam Deck Compatibility: 0/5, Fortnite doesn’t work with the Steam Deck on account of an incompatible anti-cheat resolution.
Princess Peach: Showtime! (0/5)
Stellar Blade (0/5)
Tremendous Mario Occasion Jamboree (0/5)
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge (0/5)
Unicorn Overlord (0/5)
And that is it for the way all of the video games nominated at The Sport Awards 2024 run on the Steam Deck. What do you consider this yr’s nominees and winners? Tell us within the feedback beneath!
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