Now that PC handhelds are quickly becoming the norm, fans are wondering if Marvel Rivals will run on Valve’s Steam Deck. Despite its power, publishers are worried that handheld players can enable cheats that are harder to detect, with games like Apex Legends removing Deck support.
While the Deck can play a number of multiplayer shooters, it’s hard to ignore how some publishers are choosing to omit this feature for the handheld. Granted, cheating in online games is troublesome but that doesn’t mean all Deck users will do it. All fans can do is hope that Rivals encourages other publishers to give back to this handheld.
Can Marvel Rivals run on Steam Deck?
According to the recent NetEase Q&A on Discord (via Miller Ross), Marvel Rivals will be compatible with the Steam Deck.
This means that any handheld player who was looking forward to playing this game on the go can do so. It will be interesting to see how NetEase will handle any possible cheaters coming to the shooter but at least handheld players have the chance to experience this with friends.
Despite being compatible with Steam Deck, it was noted that the Season 0 launch will be a bit buggy for the handheld. NetEase has said that some cutscene glitches won’t ruin the gameplay but might annoy players who want to experience everything. Valve is reportedly working on this, but the game might launch with these glitched cutscenes.
What is the Marvel Rivals Steam Deck verification?
Support for Marvel Rivals on Steam Deck is confirmed, but we don’t know what the game’s verification status is.
There are four different verified states: Unknown, Unsupported, Playable, and Verified. Unknown has little-to-no testing from Valve, while Unsupported can be played but will need the settings altered or has missing features. Playable means the game can usually be played with an issue or two, while Verified means no issues at all when playing.
NetEase hasn’t said if Marvel Rivals will be Playable or Verified, though players should at least expect the latter. Just being able to play this game on Steam Deck is a good thing for many. Hopefully, future updates will continue to make this game a good time on Valve’s handheld.
For more on Marvel Rivals check out this news piece about the Battle Pass not expiring. You can also read about the MCU skins coming to this game.