Kingmakers Game Wiki
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Kingmakers on Steam Deck

Probably, but nobody can promise how well. Valve has not rated Kingmakers for Steam Deck, which is normal for a game that is not out. The game director has said playtesters have played it on a Deck and that he is certain the public release will run on one, while declining to say anything about performance.

Expected

The game director is certain the public release will run on a Deck. Valve has not rated it, and no performance target or result has been stated. What would change this: a Valve compatibility rating on the Steam page.

A medieval soldier with a round shield turns toward a helmeted soldier as arrows fly over a burning field.
A shield-bearer and a helmeted soldier meet under a sky full of arrows. Screenshot: Redemption Road / tinyBuild, from the Steam store page.

What the game director said

First, about who gets picked for playtests:

Paul Fisch Game director, replying on the Steam forum

“For our actual playtests we intentionally pick people who use a wide variety of different hardware. Testers have even played Kingmakers on steamdecks.”

Thread: Paul Fisch on playtest hardware, pinned update thread

Then, asked directly whether the latest build runs on a Deck:

Paul Fisch Game director, replying on the Steam forum

“I’m sure the most recent build *can* run on steamdeck, but I can’t make any definitive statements on how the performance would be on it.”

“When there is a public release I’m certain that it will run on steamdeck.”

Thread: Paul Fisch on Steam Deck, pinned update thread

Why you may have read the opposite

Right after the delay, the same director told a player that an older build had run on a Deck and the build at the time did not. That was said during the performance work the delay was about, and his later replies above replace it. The delay and its frame-rate goal are explained on why Kingmakers was delayed.

“Will run” is not the same as Verified

Yes: Played on a Deck in testingThe director says testers have run it on steamdecks.
Yes: Expected to run at releaseAn expectation from the developer, not a test result.
No: Any word on performanceHe declined to make definitive statements about performance; battery, frame rate and text size are all unknown.
Open: Valve’s Deck ratingEmpty: no Verified, Playable or Unsupported result on the Steam page.

Two practical points for Deck players

Controls

The Steam page currently lists no controller support at all, which matters more on a Deck than anywhere else. Details on Kingmakers controller support.

Scale

The game puts tens of thousands of soldiers into a battle. The hardware the Epic page lists for PC is on Kingmakers system requirements, for a sense of what the Deck is being asked to do, and how the studio describes scaling down to weak hardware is on Kingmakers performance.