Can you play Hogwarts Legacy on Steam Deck?

Avalanche's latest RPG Hogwarts Legacy boasts true next-generation graphics that require a significant amount of resources. The Steam Deck, on the other hand, is a handheld device with limited processing power. Given that the requirements for Hogwarts Legacy and the hardware that's present in the Steam Deck don't exactly match, many gamers have been wondering whether the RPG will be playable on Valve's system.

Despite its size, the Steam Deck packs a serious punch. Interestingly, the handheld device is capable of running most AAA titles without breaking a sweat and its strengths don't end there. Valve's offering has enough processing power to emulate games from other systems as well. However, Hogwarts Legacy demands the best hardware, and the Steam Deck's specs aren't the strongest in early 2023.

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Hogwarts Legacy is Steam Deck Verified

So, to answer the question "Can you play Hogwarts Legacy on Steam Deck?," the answer is yes. In fact, the game is Steam Deck verified, which means that the game runs on the device right out of the box. Unfortunately, there will be issues while playing the title on the Deck.

As mentioned earlier, Hogwarts Legacy is a fairly resource-heavy RPG, with the game's PC port being poorly optimized. This has led to numerous stutters, FPS drops, and other performance issues. Interestingly, some players have gone as far as to claim that the title doesn't deserve to be verified for the handheld system.

If fans have already bought the game and own the Deck, they'll need to fiddle with the settings to see stable and playable results.

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Best graphics settings for Hogwarts Legacy on the Steam Deck

This section will cover the best possible settings to use in the highly anticipated RPG with the Steam Deck. They'll offer players a balanced experience that brings the best of both visuals and framerates to the table. Keeping these objectives in mind, the following graphics settings are recommended:

Display Options

• Window mode: Windowed
• Select monitor: Default_Monitor
• Resolution: 1280x720
• Rendering Resolution: 50%
• Upscale Type: AMD FSR 2
• Upscale Mode: AMD FSR 2 Performance
• Upscale Sharpness: As per preference
• Nvidia Low Reflex Latency: Off
• Vsync: Off
• Framerate: Uncapped
• HDR: Off
• Field of View: +20 (Recommended, but users can choose as per their preference)
• Motion Blur: As per preference
• Depth of Field: As per preference
• Chromatic Aberration: As per preference
• Film Grain: As per preference.

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Graphics Options

• Global Quality Preset: Custom
• Effects Quality: Low
• Material Quality: Low
• Fog Quality: Low
• Sky Quality: Low
• Foliage Quality: Low
• Post Process Quality: Low
• Shadow Quality: Low
• Texture Quality: Low
• View Distance Quality: Low
• Population Quality: Low
• Ray Tracing Reflections: Off
• Ray Tracing Shadows: Off
• Ray Tracing Ambient Occlusion: Off

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With these settings, the handheld device can run the game with 35 FPS, which can be locked to 30 FPS for consistent and smooth framerates. If players are dissatisfied with these settings, it's recommended to tweak them further, based on their requirements. If visual quality is of greater priority, they can use a higher FSR preset. To get better framerates, they can reduce the resolution or use a lower FSR preset.