Things Are Getting Worse For Steam Deck

Despite Valve making bold claims about the Steam Deck's performance capabilities and introducing a new feature that makes the Steam Deck the ultimate PC gaming device, the platform is getting off to a rocky start. After fans received the terrible news of a delay, things seemed to be going smoothly for a while, but recent reviews of the Steam Deck indicate a new problem with the portable console: its battery life. An underperforming battery — plus one game's lack of plans to update for the Steam Deck — could be ruining the system's plans to dominate the market.

First up, that pesky battery problem. Now that some reviewers have gotten their hands on the Steam Deck, it seems that Valve's promise of 2-8 hours of battery life might not be realistic for some gamers. Gamers Nexus tested the Steam Deck using "Devil May Cry 5" with VSync turned off and uncapped settings. In their run, the Steam Deck only lasted about 1.5 hours before completely losing power. The Phawx had similar results with "Control," and both outlets explained that when running 30 fps with VSync turned on the Steam Deck performed much better, with the battery life averaging closer to Valve's claims.The reviewers said that their tests were uncapped, running games at the highest framerate the Steam Deck would allow and without VSync, which is likely an abnormal situation for most gamers. Many games require less taxing framerates and players can easily cap them. That being said, the tests highlight a Steam Deck feature many consoles don't have: the option to change one's settings. Many gamers won't encounter settings that drain the battery so quickly.

Unfortunately, fans won't even be able to test out the capabilities on one of the world's favorite online games.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney shared the news that "Fortnite" won't be updated to work on the Steam Deck. After a fan asked him if gamers would be able to take "Fortnite" on the go via the new console, Sweeney tweeted, "Fortnite no, but there's a big effort underway to maximize Easy Anti Cheat compatibility with Steam Deck." When pressed by fans about the decision, Sweeney doubled down, saying that Epic simply wasn't willing to upgrade "Fortnite" for Steam Deck because anti-cheat technology wouldn't be enforceable on the platform just yet. While he didn't rule out bringing the game to the platform in the future, the Steam Deck just can't guarantee anti-cheat tech right now.

Sweeney also commented that Epic wouldn't enjoy sharing profits from "Fortnite" with Steam, which would hose the game on Steam Deck, but that the anti-cheat software issue was a "separate issue."

There's no way to know if "Fortnite" will arrive on Steam Deck in the future, or if the battery life of the console will turn out to be that big of an issue. Regardless, all eyes are on the Steam Deck as players begin to get their hands on their preorders.