It didn’t take long for a Palworld Steam Deck mod to show up and refine performance on Valve’s pocket powerhouse. With early signs that Palworld was going to take time to adjust to handheld configurations, one modder has taken matters into their own hands, and the results are great.
We have already taken a look at the best Palworld settings for Steam Deck and determined that if you want a balance between frames and visual quality, global medium settings are the best choice. While we don’t take mods into consideration for base performance, it’s hard not to admire the improvements this Palworld mod for Steam Deck makes.
Released by TheHybred on Nexus Mods, the Palworld Steam Deck Essentials mod actually targets all handheld gaming devices including the Legion Go and ROG Ally while also offering a solution for low-end PCs.
On the Steam Deck specifically, installing the mod can take your fps to the mid-50s on ultra settings with AMD FSR enabled. The general image quality is impacted, and battery life is pushed to its limits, but it shows that with further optimization, either of the game or this mod, Palworld has the potential to be an incredible game for handhelds.
You can see the various graphics-quality options for this Palworld Steam Deck mod below. The first image shows the mod/game at its default settings. Then, the second image is the mod with Quality settings enabled – you should be able to see far better texture detail – and then the third image shows the Ultra Performance or ‘Cartoon’ setting as the modders have called it. This strips out almost all texture detail to create a very flat-looking world but one where performance should be at its best.
One way to limit the impact of the mod would be to cap your Steam Deck refresh rate to 30 fps. This way you can benefit from the higher visual fidelity, but with the system not pushing for the highest performance returns, you can make your battery last longer and have a more stable experience overall.
Check out our Palworld early access review to see how we feel about this indie hit. You can also check out our best weapons guide and our coverage of the Palworld roadmap, which sets out what the long-term future of the survival game looks like.