Content Type: Gaming News
Date: January 13, 2023
Valve’s handheld gaming device has been a success by most metrics. Critical reviews have generally been positive, and if you ask Steam Deck owners, they’re more than happy to talk your ear off about just how great being able to play Elden Ring on the couch is — and today, they just got another reason to be pleased with their purchase. Twitter user David Kelly asked WB Games Support about Hogwarts Legacy on the Steam Deck, and got a reply stating that Hogwarts Legacy will be Steam Deck verified on launch.
Hello again, David! We reached out to the Hogwarts Legacy team for you and were able to confirm that the game WILL be Steam Deck verified on launch. We hope this helps with your decision! Take care.
— WB Games Support (@WBGamesSupport) January 12, 2023
What this means is that Hogwarts Legacy has been tested on Steam Deck, and it has been verified to be a good experience. Generally, Steam titles get marked as “Verified”, “Playable” or “Unsupported” on Steam Deck: Verified games work exactly like you’d expect them to on any other supported platform; Playable games work, but the controls aren’t always great, and/or require some extra effort to get working; Unsupported titles straight up won’t run, either due to not being compatible with the Steam Deck’s Linux OS (Proton), or because of hardware issues.
Happily, we now know for certain that this won’t be the case with Hogwarts Legacy. The game being verified means that the controls should work perfectly, and the game can run in a stable fashion on the Deck. Given that the game was almost certainly developed with consoles as the primary focus, it isn’t surprising that the Steam Deck’s controls will function well; however, making games run on Proton is another story, and many Steam Deck owners will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing that they’ll be able to cast Crucio from their couch.
