Ubisoft has done a U-turn regarding Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ support for the Steam Deck, now confirming that the game will run on Valve’s gaming handheld when it launches on 20 March.
This announcement marks a departure from previous statements made during a tech Q&A session back in February, where Technology Director Pierre F explained that “at launch, the game will not be compatible with Steam Deck, due to the fact it is below [the game’s] minimum specs for PC”, which made sense at the time considering its scale and graphical fidelity.
Now, just a week before the game’s launch, Ubisoft has shared an update via the game’s social media channels, stating that it will support the platform on launch, and that the studio is “currently awaiting the level of classification from Valve”, with more information to come soon in the following days leading up to launch. For context, Valve tests and grades individual titles to ascertain how well, if at all, it runs on the Steam Deck, with four categories: Verified, playable, unsupported or unknown.
While this is certainly good news for those eager to embark on a journey to feudal Japan while on the move, it remains to be seen how well the handheld device would actually run such a graphically intense title. Granted, the Steam deck has shown promise since its launch with its ability to run AAA titles like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, but it does make some obvious cut-backs due to hardware limitations mostly regarding image resolution, performance and overall clarity. With a title as detail-heavy as Assassin’s Creed Shadows, playing it on a small screen with washed-out textures might not be the most optimal way to enjoy the experience, but its support is still appreciated.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches on 20 March 2025 for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (now with Steam Deck support).
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
