Is Honkai: Star Rail available on the Steam Deck?

Honkai: Star Rail launches worldwide on April 26, 2023, across PC and mobile devices as a turn-based role-playing game from the developers HoYoverse - the same creators of Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd.

While a wide range of PCs and mobile devices are supported, many eager players have questioned the game’s availability on the very popular portable PC gaming handheld from Valve - the Steam Deck.

While the game itself is not officially supported on the Steam Deck, a few workarounds may exist to solve the issue.

Read on to learn more about the present situation and what can be done.

Note: Parts of this article are subjective and represent the writer’s opinions.

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Honkai: Star Rail does not natively run on the Steam Deck

Valve’s handheld gaming PC is a pocket-sized monster capable of running modern-day AAA games at reasonable frame rates and resolutions. It should theoretically be capable of running Honkai: Star Rail without any issues.

However, Steam Deck uses SteamOS, an operating system based on Arch Linux instead of Windows (traditionally seen on a handheld of this nature), which has significant compatibility issues with Windows-only games.

Honkai: Star Rail is available via its proprietary launcher and on the Epic Games Store, neither of which has a native Linux app. Furthermore, the anti-cheat used in the game is incompatible with Linux-based systems and will refuse to boot up the game - even under compatibility software such as Wine and Bottles.

For this very reason, it is recommended that players use a mobile device based on Android or iOS to play the game for the time being, and hope that HoYoverse makes an official port for Linux systems and Valve’s popular handheld.

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Is there any other way to get Honkai: Star Rail to run on the Steam Deck?

While the game is in no way officially supported on this system, there are several workarounds - each with its own drawbacks.

1. Installing Windows on the Steam Deck is perhaps the easiest and safest method. Eager players should simply dual boot Windows and SteamOS from their Steam Deck, opting to install and play Star Rail via Windows only. It should be kept in mind, however, that running Windows on the Steam Deck is not the smoothest experience, and a lot of the handheld’s functions will be unavailable.

2. Waiting for an official port for Linux-based systems: This possibility is relatively low, given that HoYoverse has not mentioned any plans for official Linux support. Given the game’s popularity, however, it could be possible that a port for the Deck may be made available shortly - much like the confirmed PlayStation versions.

3. Using an unofficial patch: The third and final option involves using community-made patches to get the game running on the Steam Deck (and Linux systems) by modifying the game’s files. Remember that this could result in a ban on your account, as changing in-game files is subject to HoYoverse’s discretion and is a last-resort option.

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For more Honkai: Star Rail coverage, keep an eye out on Sportskeeda Gaming for further updates.