10 PC games that deserve to be on the Steam Deck

Valve’s Steam Deck has been on a roll ever since it was first introduced in February 2022. Thanks to its portability, the powerful handheld gaming device has become a massive hit, opening up the wide collection of Nintendo Switch games to users. The Steam Deck is perfectly suited for games that are ostensibly huge, with enough content to keep players engaged for a long time.

However, the Steam Deck is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to PC games. There are thousands of PC games out there that fit the above-mentioned category that still haven’t made it to Steam Deck yet. So, keeping that in mind, here is a quick list of some popular PC games that cannot be played on Steam Deck yet.

This article reflects the personal views of the author.

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10 best PC games not available on Steam Deck

1) Stray

• Developer: Blue Twelve Studio
• Released on: 19 July 2022

It’s surprising to see that the most talked about debut game of 2022 was a third-person RPG adventure about a cat. 2022 has indeed been that sort of year. The gaming community has adored the new outlook of being able to control a cat in a massive apocalyptic open world.

The open world of Stray is a futuristic city inhabited by sentient AI and robots. The days of humans are long gone; instead, the entire neon-lit city is run by these robots. In the game's post-apocalyptic future, robots go to offices and hang out together in pubs. The game’s ultimate objective is to reunite the stray cat with its lost family and friends.

The level of detail put into each and every corner of the neon-lit city of Stray is a sight to behold in itself. Stray is a fresh indie adventure title that gamers should try out at least once this year, regardless of whether the game makes it to the Steam Deck or not.

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2) Riders Republic

• Developer: Ubisoft
• Released on: 23 August 2021

Riders Republic is Ubisoft’s take on extreme sports in an open world environment. The game has everything on offer, from snowboarding and skiing to biking and cycling in a photorealistic open world that is filled with mountainous valleys, undulating plains, and deep canyons.

Besides off-road shenanigans, Riders Republic's open world has plenty of addictive racing challenges, championships, and PR stunt events on offer that will keep players occupied in this adrenaline-pumping extreme sports game. It’s a surprise to see that Ubisoft has been ignoring the Steam Deck route for Riders Republic.

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3) Destiny 2

• Developer: Bungie Inc
• Released on: 28 August 2017

Destiny 2 is a free-to-play MMORPG that offers a distinct blend of a first-person shooter with online multiplayer RPG elements in a massive open world in the form of an entire galaxy. Destiny 2 is a highly ambitious game that delivers an ever-expanding and continuously evolving storyline in the Destiny universe, played out by the gamers themselves.

Destiny 2 introduced a bold approach to MMORPG storytelling, and in the past five years, the RPG franchise has gone on to launch several post-launch DLCs, four major expansion packs, and a dozen in-game seasons for Destiny 2. Again, all of this is missing on the Steam Deck.

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4) Stardew Valley

• Developer: ConcernedApe
• Released on: 26 February 2016

An open-ended RPG about farming, Stardew Valley is so much more than a simple farming simulation game. The player's character takes on the responsibility of a small farm left over by his deceased grandfather in the quaint little Pelican Town.

Stardew Valley delivers a 2D platform open world experience, filled with many interesting NPC characters to interact with and dangerous side quests that involves fending off dragons just to get the right type of resources for the farm. Players can go fishing, mining, crafting, and exploring in procedurally generated caves and dungeons in this unique RPG adventure about farming.

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5) Immortals Fenyx Rising

• Developer: Ubisoft
• Released on: 22 October 2020

One of the biggest debuts of the year 2020, Immortals Fenyx Rising is a third-person action-adventure title, where developers Ubisoft successfully implanted the effective open world formula of the Assassin’s Creed series that had worked so well for more than a decade.

This particular third-person action-adventure title offers an esthetically pleasing open world environment, similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in its visual appeal. The game not only has some interesting puzzles to solve, but is also one of Ubisoft’s most refreshing open-world creations in recent years. It’s truly a shame that Immortals Fenyx Rising cannot be played on the Steam Deck.

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6) Genshin Impact

• Developer: MiHoYo
• Released on: 28 September 2020

Genshin Impact is an RPG adventure that is slowly but steadily starting to dominate the mobile gaming platform. The game is widely popular right now, and this trend is expected to continue for a few more years.

Also available to be played on PC, Genshin Impact manages to deliver a heart-touching storyline with plenty of mysteries and lore to get oneself engaged in the open world of Tevyat that has an uncanny resemblance to Hyrule from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Despite earning such widespread global popularity, Genshin Impact has still not made it to the Steam Deck.

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7) PlayerUnknown’s Battleground (PUBG)

• Developers: KRAFTON, PUBG Corporation, Tencent Games, Lightspeed & Quantum
• Released on: 23 March 2017

PlayerUnknown’s Battleground, popularly known as PUBG, is a free-to-play competitive tactical battle royale game that took the gaming world by storm when it first came out. Over the past couple of years, PUBG has become a new fad in the battle royale genre.

Although PUBG may not have the realistic gun feel that other tactical shooters such as Apex Legends, Call of Duty, or Counter-Strike manage to deliver where one accurate lethal shot is all that matters, the game does manage to create enjoyable tactical team play. PUBG is probably the most popular game on this list which is not available on Steam Deck.

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8) Hearthstone

• Developers: Blizzard Entertainment
• Released on: 11 March 2014

Made by the creators of the World of Warcraft series, Hearthstone is an easy-to-play and extremely addictive strategic card game, which introduces the beloved heroes, demons, and other characters of the Warcraft universe into a deck of cards. It’s a fast-paced real-time tactical card game that pits two opponents against each other.

The game offers five different types of cards ranging from heroes and spells to locations and relics. Players are required to build a team of collectible cards to participate. Furthermore, there are 10 different classes of heroes including Tanks, Mages, and Healers in this massively fun strategy card game.

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9) Valorant

• Developers: Riot Games
• Released on: 2 June 2020

Gamers just have to accept the fact that it is a very difficult job to port competitive tactical shooters to Steam, and just like PUBG, Valorant is another prime example.

It’s a 5 vs 5 tactical first-person shooter that has precise gunplay mechanics set in a stylish environment.

Players must select one of several Agents, possessing unique supernatural abilities in addition to a cool range of destructive weapons. These include the likes of submachine guns, shotguns, machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and various other automatic and semi-automatic weapons in this team-based tactical shooter.

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10) Dead by Daylight

• Developer: Behavior Interactive
• Released on: 14 June 2016

Dead by Daylight is a 4vs1 asymmetrical horror survivor thriller, where one player takes on the role of a killer while the other three participants play as survivors. The job of the survivors is to escape from being caught and killed by the killer at all costs.

The game provides an ever-changing environment, where survivors get a third-person viewing advantage, offering better situational awareness. The killer, on the other hand, will have to play in first-person view. The survivors’ sole purpose in the game is to escape from the dynamic killing ground. As expected, this is a fun and addictive game to play together with friends. Dead by Daylight is yet another massively engaging game missing from Valve’s Steam Deck.