As an MMO enthusiast myself, the moment I heard about this cozy shared-world multiplayer game, it piqued my interest. It’s currently teasing players with its closed beta, and know it’s in open beta, excitement is palpable. Given its PC orientation, it’s only natural for gamers to wonder if they can run Palia on the Steam Deck.
Is Palia playable on Steam Deck?
So, the burning question: Can you play Palia on the Steam Deck? Yes, you can, but as Palia is not on Steam, you have to go through a few hoops to get it working.
However, don’t expect it to run 100% flawlessly, there are a few issues with shader complications and the like but honestly, it runs pretty well.
How to get Palia Playable on Steam Deck
You can get Palia working on Steam Deck in a few ways. A few people are saying you can run Palia in Desktop mode without any additional steps. Others had to use bottles to get it to work, whereas others had to force Proton through Steam.
If Palia does not work from Desktop mode, the steps below will work:
- Initial Setup: Download the Palia launcher onto your device.
- Integration with Steam: Launch the Steam application and add PaliaLauncher.exe as a Non-Steam game.
- Head to the Steam Library: Select Palia in your Library, right-click, go to Properties and go to shortcut preferences, and turn on “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool.” And select Proto 8.0-3.
- Running Palia Launcher: Once you’re back on your Steam Deck, fire up the Palia launcher. Now the fun begins. As it’s not as simple as it sounds.
There’s an issue with the Palia Launcher, loading it through Steam, as text keeps disappearing, and trying to scroll down and agree to the EULA agreement was the bane of my existence as touchscreen is required to use the launcher. Keep trying it, and then hit next to begin downloading Palia
- Navigating to Installation Path: Now, once it’s downloaded and installed, go to this location:
-
/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/
- There will be a bunch of folder IDs, but you want the newest folder created, so sort the folders by Created, Newest First, to find the correct folder quickly.
-
- Finding the Palia Launcher: Once you’ve found the correct folder, enter it and follow this path:
/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/Palia/Launcher/
- Final Touch: After you’ve found the newly installed Palia launcher in the above path, right-click on Palialauncher.exe and copy location.
- Go back to Steam: Head back to Steam Library, properties again, and in Shortcut, in the Target field, remove anything in there, and paste the location you copied.
- Finished: Now you can click play and run Palia on Steam Deck. However, since there is no controller support currently for Proton, it is coming.
Though it may seem a tad complex, following it step by step should get you into the world of Palia in no time.