Prospective Steam Deck owners can now see the new console in action as it runs gaming classic The Witcher 3. Valve surprised many with its surprise announcement of a new portable system many assert could rival the Nintendo Switch, promising the ability to take Steam's library of PC titles on the go.
Since then, more interesting developments regarding the Steam Deck have slowly but steadily rolled in the run-up to its planned December launch. While there were some initial concerns about storage space for massive AAA titles and the fact that Steam Deck won't support every Steam game at first, Valve has wowed the public over with a user-friendly UI and assurances that the Steam Deck will avoid the joystick drifting issue that has plagued the Nintendo Switch. However, the main issue that will arguably make or break the fledging Steam Deck console will ultimately be how well it runs graphically intensive titles like The Witcher 3 - and now players can get a small taste of how it measures up.
The official Witcher Twitter account posted a few brief video clips of a developer playing The Witcher 3 on Steam Deck. These videos show legendary monster slayer Geralt of Rivia riding on horseback through a town, wandering through the woods, and battling a large monster. It all looks to be running smoothly on the Steam Deck’s portable screen, but one commenter notes there's a noticeable resolution downgrade compared to The Witcher 3 on PC. While this claim is difficult to verify based on a few low-resolution Twitter video clips, this possibility would only be natural, as Steam Deck is reported to target 800p 30fps performance.
As the Steam Deck draws closer to its shipment date, the early reception of the new handheld has so far been quite positive. Early access reviewers have praised the Steam Deck’s comfortable design and smooth performance, and developers who have already received their Steam Deck dev kits have ended up impressed by the promising new system. Even before that, industry insiders like Xbox head Phil Spencer have expressed excitement for Valve's console, with the Microsoft executive even teasing Steam Deck support for Xbox Cloud Gaming.
While the fresh demonstration of The Witcher 3 running on the upcoming Steam Deck didn’t show much, it seems that the game runs well enough on the portable Steam Deck hardware. If this pre-release footage any indication, the Steam Deck could very well fulfill Valve's promise of reliable PC gaming on the go.
Source: The Witcher/Twitter