Handheld consoles are great for on-the-go entertainment, but there has always been a limitation of the types of games they can play. The smaller, portable form factor makes it so that the hardware packed into the device is not top tier. However, the advancements in technology have made it possible to have more powerful internals in a compact form factor.
The upcoming Steam Deck has been touted to be able to run almost every game in the entire catalog, and the most recent information says it should also be able to play one of the biggest releases of the year; the God of War port.
The PC port of one of Sony’s biggest games from 2018 was released yesterday and features several upgrades from the console version, including 4K resolution, unlocked frame rates, 21:9 ultra-widescreen support, NVIDIA DLSS, and customizable controls.
It has been reported that the game can run “out of the box” on Linux setups. This is due to Proton, a compatibility layer that allows Windows-based games to run on Linux. This is the same compatibility layer that the Steam Deck will be using. So, the game should be fully playable on the upcoming Valve handheld.
It has been reported that there is some heavy stuttering with an NVIDIA GPU as games that have been built for Windows and run through Proton will need some time to build up a shader cache. It remains to be seen if this will prove a challenge for the Steam Deck.
The handheld will use a custom AMD RDNA 2 GPU instead of NVIDIA. It was earlier reported that 80% of the top 100 games on Steam ran on the Steam Deck, and that number is expected to grow before the official launch.
We won’t have to wait long before the real-world testing begins, as Valve recently confirmed the Steam Deck is on track for the previously announced February 2022 release after it was delayed from December 2021. Valve mentioned in a blog post, “global pandemic, supply issues, and shipping issues notwithstanding, it looks like we’ll be able to start getting these out the door by the end of February.”
About God of War(2018)
Developed by Santa Monica Studios, God of War is a single-player action-adventure game. Unlike the previous installments of the franchise that deals with Greek mythology, this installment is set in Norse lore.
Before dying, Kratos’ second wife’s last wish is for her to be cremated at the highest peak of the nine realms. Therefore, with his son, Atreus, Kratos embarks on a difficult journey teeming with monsters and gods to fulfill his wife’s final request.
About Valve Software
Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is an American video game developer, publisher, and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington. Valve is best known for the software distribution platform Steam, along with gaming franchises such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Dota.
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