The PS5 exclusive, returnal of 2021, was one of the biggest surprises of the year. The game was the first foray into AAA game development for Finnish developer Housemarque, which was previously known for developing arcade-style downloadable titles such as Resogun and Dead Nation.
Nonetheless, returnal kept the studio’s arcade roots intact, while telling an engaging horror-style story. Now, various rumors and leaks indicate that the game will be coming to PC via Steam, and according to its listing on SteamDB, it will also be compatible with Steam Deck at its release.
The Steam Deck is a ‘portable console’ created by Valve that is practically a mini gaming PC, based on SteamOS, Valve’s operating system, and that allows greater customization of performance than a traditional console like Nintendo Switch. This has been a huge success, attracting fans of both console and PC gaming.
So far, support for Steam Deck has been huge, as many developers have updated their previous titles to be compatible, or Valve has implemented support for games to be compatible with the Steam Deck.
So far, all of Sony’s PC releases have been compatible with Steam Deck, including Horizon: Zero Dawn, Days Gone, and God of War. Now, according to SteamDB, the next release of returnal for PC it will be too.
The compatibility of returnal with Steam Deck is especially exciting as it will be the first title developed for PS5 to be compatible with Valve’s handheld PC, which is closer to the original PS4 in terms of specs at its maximum configuration.
Although this is not yet confirmed, since SteamDB is directly connected to Steam’s own internal database, it’s hard to believe that this is an inaccurate listing. This also gives hope that Sony’s upcoming PC releases such as Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection and The Last of Us Part 1 will also support the Steam Deck at launch.