As reported by Gaming on Linux, The Elder Scrolls Online has achieved Steam Deck Verified status, meaning the long-running MMO should now run well out of the box on Valve’s PC handheld, no tweaking required.
The Elder Scrolls Online has had that nebulous yellow “Playable” badge since 2024, with Zenimax Online having promised full verification eventually. The big hurdle for users until now was mandatory mouse input to use ESO’s external launcher. It also defaulted to mouse and keyboard controls in-game until you set a preference for gamepad. Not the worst thing in the world, but also not quite a buttoned-up, console-equivalent experience.
The Elder Scrolls Online on Steam Deck strikes me as a real chocolate and peanut butter combo: Bethesda’s single-player games already routinely number among the Steam Deck’s most-played, after all. I find the daily grind of MMOs sat upright at my desktop to be a huge barrier to entry these days, so being able to enjoy that sort of low-intensity, second screen gameplay while lying on the couch is far more enticing.
PCG online editor Fraser Brown pointed out to me that this is another reminder of how spotty the Steam Deck verification process can be. Even with the launcher and mouse control default, ESO has long been a better Deck experience than many verified games.
Despite its Verified badge, we do not recommend Oblivion Remastered on Deck, for example, while Skyrim has been “Unsupported” on Deck for months even though it’s still perfectly playable. Dread Delusion, one of my favorite indie RPGs, has been Verified for years, but it wasn’t actually a good fit for Deck until a recent update.
It’s not a half-bad time to start playing The Elder Scrolls Online, either: Zenimax Online has been previewing the upcoming additions for ESO’s first season on a new release schedule, which includes the return of the Thieves Guild and a quest for the fan-favorite Daedric prince of madness, Sheogorath.
It is, however, a full-bad time to try to buy a Steam Deck if you don’t already have one: AI hardware shortages have driven up the price of both OLED models by hundreds of dollars.
