The Last of Us Part I gets Steam Deck support

The Last of Us Part I will receive support for the Steam Deck, according to the game’s creator Neil Druckmann on Twitter know. The PC version will be released on March 3, 2023 via Steam and can therefore also be played on the Steam Deck.

Naughty Dog’s action-adventure game was given a release date for PC at the end of last week, but Steam Deck users took to Twitter to wonder if the game would also be playable on handheld. Naughty Dogs co-president and The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann subsequently confirmed that this is indeed possible, as spotted GamesRadar. He writes: “Ellie and Joel are going to bless the Steam Deck with their presence, don’t worry.”

On the other hand, it is unknown to what extent the hardware of Valve’s handheld will influence the performance of the game. Users may need to adjust the game’s graphics settings down a bit to be able to play The Last of Us Part I, which has been “re-optimized and improved for PC,” at a nice frame rate.

Valve uses multiple categories to indicate handheld compatibility; from ‘Great on Deck’ to acknowledging the fact that the game works for the most part, but some aspects of the game may not work well or not at all. Presumably, Druckmann’s announcement indicates that the game will receive full Steam Deck support.

In The Last of Us, players follow teenage girl Ellie and father figure and smuggler Joel. The two must survive in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by creatures infected with a fungal virus and murderous humans. The first part was released in 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and in 2014 for the PS4. A remake was later released, referred to as ‘Part I’. The sequel followed in 2020 and was immediately titled The Last of Us Part II. In the meantime, a TV series is also in the making, which can be seen on HBO Max from January 15.

Ellie and Joel will grace the Steam Deck… don’t worry! pic.twitter.com/Dti18OhXDV

—Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) December 10, 2022