Recent updates
13:52 ET Friday, 3 January 2025
After moving Palworld from 'Playable' to 'Unsupported' on January 1, as of today, January 3, Valve have changed the rating again to 'Steam Deck Playable' but with a list of problems.
Palworld is experiencing another wave of popularity right now, owing to its huge Feybreak update that hit at the perfect time, right before Christmas. With over 200,000 concurrent players diving back into the game during the holiday period, I was among them, playing happily on my Steam Deck. I was however surprised to spot just yesterday that the game was no longer listed as 'playable' for the handheld on Valve's Steam store.
Palworld is now 'unsupported' on Steam Deck
I've been playing the latest Palworld update on my Steam Deck with no issues—aside from the brutal battery drain—and only realized the change when I went to install it on my partner's OLED model via our shared Steam library. Previously categorized as 'Playable,' Palworld's status mysteriously shifted to 'Unsupported' as of yesterday.
Steam Deck is my favorite way to play Palworld, and I even transferred my Xbox save to Steam just to enjoy it on the go. (Curse you, Pocketpair, for the lack of cross-save between platforms!)
Update 13:52 ET Friday, 3 January 2025: Valve have now moved the game back to 'Playable' but with a list of caveats:
- Some functionality is not accessible when using the default controller configuration, requiring use of the touchscreen or virtual keyboard, or a community configuration.
- This game sometimes shows mouse, keyboard, or non-Steam-Deck controller icons.
- Entering some text requires manually invoking the on-screen keyboard.
- Some in-game text is small and may be difficult to read.
- This game requires manual configuration of graphics settings to perform well on Steam Deck.
- This game does not default to external Bluetooth/USB controllers on Deck, and may require manually switching the active controller via the Quick Access Menu.
What is Steam Deck verification?
There are currently 4 categories of verification for games on Steam and their reported compatibility with the Steam Deck:
- Verified ✅ - This means the game is well-optimized for the Steam Deck and requires no changes to the settings to run well.
- Playable ℹ️ - Where Palworld previously sat, this means the game works but might need minor tweaks.
- Unsupported 🚫 - Valve lists these games as 'not functional,' though they can often be played with effort.
- Unknown ❔- This means the game hasn’t been tested enough for a rating.
Many of my favorite Steam Deck titles fall into the 'Playable' category. Often, the reason for this classification is something trivial, like small text that’s hard to read in handheld mode—a challenge I’ve encountered with Palworld even with the font size maxed out, but it's still enjoyable.
It’s unclear why Palworld has been downgraded to 'Unsupported,' but I haven’t noticed any issues with it. I’ve been playing smoothly with the frame rate locked at 40 FPS. For comparison, I’ve dealt with truly unsupported games like Last Epoch by using tools like Proton GE to force compatibility—but I haven’t even needed that here.
Palworld is in the top 10 most played games on the Steam Deck too for 2024, so don't let a rating dissuade you from your handheld base-building dreams.
Recommended settings for Palworld on Steam Deck
While we wait for Palworld to regain its 'Playable' verification on Steam Deck, you can still enjoy the game with minimal adjustments. To get the best balance of performance and visuals, here are the recommended settings for Palworld on Steam Deck:
- Presets: Low
- Max FPS: No Limit
- Vsync: Off
- Motion Blur: Off
- Anti-Aliasing: TSR
- View Distance: Medium
- Grass Details: Medium
- Shadows: Medium
- Effects Quality: Medium
- Texture Quality: Medium
- Field of View: 85
For more detailed guidance, check out our full breakdown of the best Palworld Steam Deck graphics settings.
Have you noticed any new issues with Palworld since the Feybreak update?
