Will Concord run on Steam Deck?
PlayStation’s latest multiplayer shooter, Concord, is heading to PS5 and PC. Normally that would mean getting ready to test it on the Steam Deck. However, despite Concord’s PC requirements releasing, we’re still unsure if the game will run on the Steam Deck.
We’ve reached out to PlayStation to clarify. Unfortunately, if you were hoping to get a few games in the go, you might be out of luck.
Concord will come with the PlayStation PC integration, which culled co-op with Ghost of Tsushima. While Sucker Punch’s samurai game is playable solo, that’s no good for Concord – a strictly PVP game.
Will Concord be on Steam Deck?
Unless Sony patches the PlayStation PC integration to support Linux, there’s no way Concord will be working on the Steam Deck.
From what Sucker Punch said when they confirmed a lack of online support for Ghost of Tsushima on Steam Deck, this is similar to Call of Duty or Valorant.
Sucker Punch’s comment from a Steam news post said:
“You may notice that Steam marks the game as ‘Unsupported’ for Steam Deck.
“This is due to the Legends co-op multiplayer mode requiring Windows to access PlayStation Network integrated features.”
More online games require access to deeper-level functions of Windows. We can’t confirm if PlayStation’s integration requires kernel-level access like Valorant, nor can the community.
Linux does not have the dependencies or access to key Windows functions, even with translation layers.
Proton, the translation layer for getting Windows applications to run on Linux, only simulates a barebones Windows environment. The core aspects and necessities most video games require to run. What it can’t simulate is the kernel and some proprietary functions of Windows.
This is also why you can’t play Fortnite on the Steam Deck. Most developers have concerns about cheating, as Linux provides multiple ways to tinker with games. Some, like Bungie and Destiny 2, presumably don’t see the value in altering their anti-cheat to support Linux due to its low player base.
Factor in aversion to risks in their multiplayer game, it often leads to Linux platforms, like the Steam Deck, going unsupported.
With all this said, you could just dual-boot Windows to see if Concord will run. It’s a relatively simple process and easily reversed with a full format of your SSD.
Steam Deck performance speculation
The current minimum requirements for 1080p 60FPS are quite low. Playstation states that for the minimum, low-settings experience you’ll need at least the following:
- CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
- RAM: 8GB DDR4
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 1660 6GB or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT
- Storage: 30GB SSD
With a little tweaking, we believe that Concord could be squeezed to run at 60FPS on the Steam Deck. The game is hard capped at 60FPS though – presumably to balance the odds between console and PC – so OLED players wouldn’t hit 90FPS anyway.
We’ve already tested games that require a little bit more from systems before this. However, even existing multiplayer games with similar requirements like Battlefield 2042, are vastly different in scope. It’s difficult to compare it until we see it running on the hardware.
The game’s direct comparison, Overwatch 2, requires so little from the user in terms of hardware that it’s not worth comparing.
We do have Call of Duty to fall back on for games in the same ballpark. During Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s launch, we tested the game on Steam Deck with a Windows install. The game played fine, with a nearly steady 60 at low, and Modern Warfare 3 (2023) also plays well on the handheld.
Concord being in the same ballpark map and player count-wise, it could be possible to play it comfortably on Steam Deck.
Streaming Concord to the Steam Deck
If you own both a Steam Deck and a PS5, you could easily stream the game to the Deck. We have a full guide on how to use Chikari, which is infinitely better than the official offering.