Is Atomic Heart Steam Deck compatible? While many of us would (quite rightly) prefer to play FPS games with a mouse and keyboard, Valve’s portable PC is a perfectly fine substitute in a pinch. As such, we’ve tested Atomic Heart to see how well it runs, if at all, on Deck.
When it comes to the Atomic Heart system requirements, the Steam Deck ticks most of the boxes. However, those with the 64GB base model will need one of the best Steam Deck SD cards to install the game.
Is Atomic Heart Steam Deck compatible?
Yes, Atomic Heart is Steam Deck compatible. Valve has deemed the alternate history first-person shooter as ‘Playable’, due to the lack of a Steam Deck graphics preset and some in-game text being potentially difficult to read.
Following our investigation into Atomic Heart Steam Deck performance, we recommend using the ‘Low’ preset but keep the ‘Shader Cache’ setting on and set ‘Hard Drive Speed’ to SSD. For the most stable experience, use the system’s refresh rate and frame rate cap and set both to 40, which will also help improve battery life too.
If you want a helping hand finding your way around the game, we’ve got you covered when it comes to the best Atomic Hart weapons and attachment upgrades. For those of you wanting to get a jump on Atomic Heart bosses, we’ve got all the information you need there too. Check out the best Steam Deck games if you want a break from the FPS action.
Developer Mundfish has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks after it was alleged that the Russian government stands to gain financially from the release of Atomic Heart. This is due to the fact that investors involved in financing Mundfish include GEM Capital, an investment fund whose founder has ties to Gazprom and VTB Bank, both of which are majority-owned by the Russian state.
Further, Mundfish is partnering with VK (formerly Mail.RU) for the Russian release of Atomic Heart, evading sanctions on Steam. VK is also majority-owned by the Russian state through Gazprombank, and Mundfish’s CEO is a former Creative Director at Mail.RU.
With Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, many players are choosing to boycott the game in protest and donate money to organisations like The Ukraine Crisis Appeal, International Rescue Committee, and the British Red Cross.