How to Play Deadlock on Steam Deck?

Ever since the Deadlock playtest invite became public, there have been plenty of questions about it. One of the major questions was if you could play Deadlock on a Steam Deck. While in early development it’s stated as unsupported, there are ways always workarounds. So with that, let’s begin answering if and how to play Deadlock on Stream Deck right here.

Can You Play Deadlock on Steam Deck?

Well, Deadlock comes with Steam Deck controls support by default. Although it shows that it is not Steam Deck ready, not everything on paper is true. Yes, you can play the game through Steam input. However, it comes with plenty of issues as an early development game.

One of the issues leads to Deadlock not working on the Steam Deck. This results in showing an error message that says “Matchmaking unsupported for Steam Deck.”

If you are in the same situation, worry not. Keep reading as we explain how you can play Deadlock on Steam Deck. We will also share the optimal button settings so that you get the best out of your deck. Especially, when playing Deadlock on controllers comes with a lot of restrictions.

How to Play Deadlock on Steam Deck

To play Deadlock on Steam Deck, you can follow two methods. One is quite easy but requires some workarounds. The other, however, is more technical and requires you to run a command through the launch settings. Here are both the methods you can use to play Deadlock on the Steam Deck:

1. Launch Method

There is a permanent way to run the game on Steam Deck. In this way, you can tweak the launch settings once and will never have to worry about matchmaking. Here is how you can use launch settings to run Deadlock on the Steam Deck:

• Go to Deadlock from the Steam menu and select the gear icon.
• Select Properties and go to the General tab.
• In the Launch options, type SteamDeck=0 %command% and start the game.

2. Spectate Method

Note: I suggest you select a game with a lower viewer count. Otherwise, the game might time you out and you will have to redo the process.

To play Deadlock on Steam Deck through Spectate, follow the steps below:

• Go to the Watch menu from the game’s main screen.
• Select a game with a low viewer count.
• Now open the menu and click the first Play button shown.

Deadlock Optimized Steam Deck Controller Layout

Thanks to Reddit user Human971224’s post, we have an ideal controller layout that maximizes your gameplay efficiency. You can follow the image below and edit yours.

This layout will help you play the game as a typical third-person shooter where the left joystick helps in movement and the right joystick is for view. In this layout, the gyro is enabled for precise aiming as well.

And that is how you can play Deadlock on a Steam Deck. Still have any doubts? Feel free to reach out in the comments below.