Is Ghost of Tsushima Steam Deck compatible?

Ghost of Tsushima is releasing in just a couple of days, with the pre-download already going live on Steam. As is the case with most PC releases nowadays, players might be wondering whether the latest PlayStation offering on the platform is Steam Deck compatible or not. While most PlayStation releases do ship with compatibility for Valve's handheld system, some of the recent titles from the console manufacturer do not do the same.

The recently released Horizon Forbidden West, Returnal, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart are some of the titles that did not ship with native support for handheld PCs and Steam Deck. And while you can technically run them on these systems, the experience is far from ideal, due to constant performance issues and unplayable framerate.

Fortunately, for players curious to know whether Ghost of Tsushima is Steam Deck compatible or not, recently Sucker Punch Productions and Nixxes Software shed some light on that front. Here's everything you need to know about Ghost of Tsushima's Steam Deck compatibility, limitations, and more.

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Ghost of Tsushima is playable on Steam Deck, but there's a catch

According to Nixxes Software, Ghost of Tsushima is playable on Steam Deck and other similar handheld PCs, but there's a caveat to that. Only the single-player story mode of the game, including the base game, the Iki Island DLC, and New Game+ modes are playable on Valve's handheld system. The Legends mode, however, isn't accessible there due to its PSN requirement.

Essentially, to access Legends multiplayer mode, the game requires players to use the PlayStation Overlay, which is currently only supported on Windows PCs. Given Steam Deck runs on Steam OS, which is a custom version of Linux, it doesn't have native support for the PlayStation Overlay.

However, there might be a workaround to get the Legends multiplayer mode working on the Steam Deck. You must essentially side-load Windows on your Steam Deck to play Ghost of Tsushima. Yes, it won't perform nearly as well as the native Steam Deck version, but it will allow you to bypass the restrictions PS Overlay has on the system.

Unfortunately, side-loading Windows on a Steam Deck is much easier said than done, and most players who simply want to enjoy a game on their handheld device without much tinkering won't go to the lengths of installing or side-loading a new OS on their system, simply to bypass an arbitrary requirement.

There is a chance that PlayStation might reverse the PSN requirement for Legends, given how Helldivers 2 works without any issues on the Steam Deck. Nixxes Software and Sucker Punch Productions haven't stated anything official in that regard. As such, for the time being, Ghost of Tsushima is supported on Steam Deck, but partially.